Help for baby Augustine and her recovery

As many of you may already know, our dear friends Chandler and Evan recently brought their sweet Augustine into the world. Augustine had a rare complication of the placental circulation in the days before birth which meant she lost most of her blood into Chandler’s bloodstream. As a result of prolonged oxygen deprivation, Augustine experienced a severe brain injury and Chandler and Evan will not know the long-term effects of the damage until later in life. They are looking at a lifetime of therapies, doctor visits, medical care and a vast array of alternative healing modalities to support her, most of which are not covered by insurance.

No one should have to consider the cost of all of this, on top of navigating their roles as new parents. We created this Go Fund Me to help Chandler and Evan, by removing some of the financial burden bestowed upon them. This will allow them to focus on loving, caring and creating a beautiful new life with their precious daughter. There is a long road ahead for this family that we love so dearly, and any financial contribution you can give will make a difference.

Here's a little about Augustine from Chandler and Evan:

Our mermaid baby Augustine was born on 2/19 via emergency c-section. Chandler, her brave and intuitive mother, noticed a slowdown in sweet Augie's movements which required a hospital visit to monitor her heart. After some worrisome heart monitor tracing, it was determined that Augustine needed to come out of her mama more suddenly than expected. It is important to note that a hospital birth was not in our birth plan. Originally we had hoped for a home birth with the wonderful guiding hands of the midwives at the Santa Barbara Birth Center. Nonetheless, as that wish was not granted, we have accepted this redirection as it was necessary to save our baby's life.

After a deeply traumatic birth, it was determined that Augustine needed to head to the NICU for extensive monitoring and treatment. We quickly learned that she was alarmingly anemic and had lost 2/3 of her blood volume at some unknown stage prior to her birth. A blood test on Chandler confirmed that Augustine had been hemorrhaging via the placenta into Chandler’s bloodstream and thus caused much of her body to shut down, including her brain. Following this finding began an immeasurable cascade of bad news and heartbreak as doctors fought to keep her stable. Blood transfusions, breathing tubes, seizures, MRIs, and IVs followed and little Augie kept fighting. Despite all of the artificial support and sedatives stabilizing our daughter, we would get small glimpses of her spirit when she would open her eyes, take a look around and then drift off back to sleep. We saw strength in those eyes. Remaining positive during that time was hard, but we focused on envisioning a life with her back home regardless of her condition.

MRI imaging has shown that Augustine has sustained a severe amount of brain damage. Based on the imaging, a large portion of her brain has been affected and it is unclear whether she will be able to walk, talk, have cognition or use language. Everything seems uncertain at the moment, but our only mission now is to remain in positivity and allow for a restful and coordinated recovery. We aim to find the best care for this incredible miracle child and will do everything within our means to carve out the best possible future for her regardless of her injury. She has chosen us to be her stewards on this journey and we are so thankful for the lessons she has begun to teach us, and the many more to come.

Though her future of recovery is uncertain, one thing we can count on is a lifetime of doctor visits, high-risk infant clinic follow-ups, occupational therapies, physical therapies, speech therapies, and a whole host of alternative care that we have barely even scratched the surface of exploring, and all of which is not covered by insurance. We also aim to share her imaging with the best neurologists available to us to see if there are any other avenues to pursue in her recovery.

Augustine has split our hearts wide open. We hope that with the support of our beautiful community we can support Augustine shine as bright as she wants to shine.

♥ ♥ ♥

Chandler and Evan feel the love from their community at this time and are eternally grateful for your kind words, your prayers, all of the delicious meals you've been bringing them, the kisses and love you've been sprinkling on little Augustine and for any financial contribution you can make to help them along the way. No contribution is too small, which will go to help them provide Augie with the best care they can get.

On behalf of Chandler, Evan and their family, thank you xo