Donate to Finley Rae's Heart Surgery and Recovery

Meet Miss Finley Rae. Her mom and dad are Jackie and Hays Reeling IV. Finley is their little miracle. Several years ago, Jackie was told she would have a 2% chance of getting pregnant. Fast forward to 2023 when they were very surprised to find out that Jackie indeed was pregnant! They were ecstatic that they had their 2% chance baby! The due date was set for July 12. In May, Jackie had to have a fetal echocardiogram to investigate some concerns about baby Finley’s heart. They ultimately diagnosed her with Mild Pulmonary Valve Stenosis which is a thickening of the Pulmonary Valve. That evening, Jackie went into labor; she was only 30 weeks along. The amazing medical staff did what they could to keep Finley in longer, but she had other plans. Finley spent 39 days in the NICU with a rough first week, but pulled through and got stronger every day. On Father's Day, she was discharged home with her parents. Throughout her NICU stay they did multiple echocardiograms on Finley and one of the recent echos prior to her going home the Pulmonary Valve Stenosis went from Mild to Moderate with plans to just follow as outpatient.

Since that time, Finley has been a champ, gaining a lot of weight and growing. Everyone is smitten over her and can't get enough of her snuggles and smiles.

Remember that heart issue I mentioned earlier? Well, at a follow-up appointment on August 14, Jackie and Hays received some scary news. Finley had a follow up echocardiogram which showed the stenosis has gotten significantly worse, so much so that baby Finley has to have open heart surgery within the next month to repair the thickening of that Pulmonary Valve. Their miracle 3-month-old preemie now needs open heart surgery within the next month.

Jackie and Hays have exhausted their paid time off and sick time. Finances were tight before when Jackie wasn't working during Finley's NICU stay. They also have a pile of medical bills from that and will now need even more time off for the heart surgery, including a 2 week stay in the cardiac intensive care unit at Children’s and then 6 weeks recovery at home post-surgery, with no paid time off or paid FMLA.

Any financial help for the family would be greatly appreciated for this amazing family while they are going through this emotional rollercoaster and challenging time.