Donation protected
The gift of Chloe
I'm not one to ever swallow my pride and ask for help but I've also never been in such a tough and stressful place as I am right now. I never thought I'd ever get to be a mother, but last November I was blessed…I found out I was pregnant and at the age of 42. I couldn't have been more ecstatic and throughout the pregnancy I was so careful and I did everything that my doctors told me to do happily.
At week 35, to my dismay, I started showing signs of pre-eclampsia but it went back and forth between whether it was that or just gestational hypertension. Thus began my many trips, almost daily, to the hospital for testing. On July 6th we went to the hospital and my fears became reality….I was showing signs again of pre-eclampsia and I was at 37 weeks and 1 day! This time the OB decided to admit me and induce labor.
On July 9th @ 8:28am Chloe entered this world with no heart beat weighing 8lbs 12 ounces and 24 1/2 inches long. She was monitored the whole time and no one can tell when or what happened but the team of nurses and doctors began working on her immediately.
They brought her back to us but there's major concern as to how much oxygen her brain may have lost. She was immediately transferred to FL South's NICU to be placed on a cooling unit. The cooling unit was to slow her brain down and prevent any further damage and allow what might have been damaged to start repairing itself.
For a long 72 hours later, the cooling unit would begin warming her up and bringing Chloe back to normal temperature. At that point, we were told that now It’s all up to Chloe. We were waiting for more signs that she didn’t have severe brain injury, but no real signs were visible.
At 7 days after Chloe was born, an MRI was done. The Neonatal doctor matched the MRI with the early EEG and they are saying she has severe brain damage. They say she may never be off a ventilator, never crawl or walk and our family will have tough decisions to make in the very near future.
We are praying and believing that those tests are just one side of the coin and miracles are gonna happen. The road ahead will be long and tiresome. There may be days that I will have to take off work. Unfortunately, those days will be unpaid because my “Part Time Off or PTO” is all used up.
Any help to ease the burden ahead is so greatly appreciated. Again, I am not comfortable asking for help but I will do what I can to be with Chloe. Like so many of you, we live paycheck to paycheck and though I pre-planned and set aside the cost of my medical expenses to deliver her, I never planned for or thought I'd have a child that needed to be in the NICU. The financial burden of the current costs and all of her future care costs I can't even begin to think about. More immediate, is the cost of the trips back and forth to the hospital since it is about an hour, one way, to the hospital from my home. The cost of the many trips I could not anticipate.
I'm not asking for help to cover everything, but just a little help to ease the stress and burden of what’s to come. We would be eternally grateful for any donations and they would be a blessing.
Thank you so much and God Bless.
I'm not one to ever swallow my pride and ask for help but I've also never been in such a tough and stressful place as I am right now. I never thought I'd ever get to be a mother, but last November I was blessed…I found out I was pregnant and at the age of 42. I couldn't have been more ecstatic and throughout the pregnancy I was so careful and I did everything that my doctors told me to do happily.
At week 35, to my dismay, I started showing signs of pre-eclampsia but it went back and forth between whether it was that or just gestational hypertension. Thus began my many trips, almost daily, to the hospital for testing. On July 6th we went to the hospital and my fears became reality….I was showing signs again of pre-eclampsia and I was at 37 weeks and 1 day! This time the OB decided to admit me and induce labor.
On July 9th @ 8:28am Chloe entered this world with no heart beat weighing 8lbs 12 ounces and 24 1/2 inches long. She was monitored the whole time and no one can tell when or what happened but the team of nurses and doctors began working on her immediately.
They brought her back to us but there's major concern as to how much oxygen her brain may have lost. She was immediately transferred to FL South's NICU to be placed on a cooling unit. The cooling unit was to slow her brain down and prevent any further damage and allow what might have been damaged to start repairing itself.
For a long 72 hours later, the cooling unit would begin warming her up and bringing Chloe back to normal temperature. At that point, we were told that now It’s all up to Chloe. We were waiting for more signs that she didn’t have severe brain injury, but no real signs were visible.
At 7 days after Chloe was born, an MRI was done. The Neonatal doctor matched the MRI with the early EEG and they are saying she has severe brain damage. They say she may never be off a ventilator, never crawl or walk and our family will have tough decisions to make in the very near future.
We are praying and believing that those tests are just one side of the coin and miracles are gonna happen. The road ahead will be long and tiresome. There may be days that I will have to take off work. Unfortunately, those days will be unpaid because my “Part Time Off or PTO” is all used up.
Any help to ease the burden ahead is so greatly appreciated. Again, I am not comfortable asking for help but I will do what I can to be with Chloe. Like so many of you, we live paycheck to paycheck and though I pre-planned and set aside the cost of my medical expenses to deliver her, I never planned for or thought I'd have a child that needed to be in the NICU. The financial burden of the current costs and all of her future care costs I can't even begin to think about. More immediate, is the cost of the trips back and forth to the hospital since it is about an hour, one way, to the hospital from my home. The cost of the many trips I could not anticipate.
I'm not asking for help to cover everything, but just a little help to ease the stress and burden of what’s to come. We would be eternally grateful for any donations and they would be a blessing.
Thank you so much and God Bless.
Organizer
Cindy Ritter
Organizer
New Smyrna Beach, FL