Ease the Burden for Crystal, James and Avacyn

Hello! My name is Jennifer and I am Crystals younger sister. I am starting this Go Fund Me for her and James to help ease the burden on them from the medical bills that they are getting from their unexpected/unplanned 3 week stay at Seattle Childrens Hospital. Crystal went in on March 28th to be induced due to her having a high amount of amniotic fluid. She then was ready to start labor on the 29th and needed to have her epidural done 4 times in order to help ease the pain. Avacyn was presenting incorrectly, and the doctor tried to reposition her correctly for birth. He was unsuccessful to correct her position. He decided to continue for a regular birth anyways. As Avacyn came out, her shoulders got stuck and her head was out. Crystal pushed as hard as she could and powered through to do anything she could for her daughter. The doctor and nurses went into action to do what they could to get Avacyn out of the stuck position and they were able to get Avacyn out and into this world. She came out not breathing and was resuscitated. She was taken to another room to be checked out. Crystal was only briefly shown her new daughter. What happened to Avacyn is known as Shoulder Dystocia and she suffered a Brachial Plexus injury. Less than 4 hours after birth she was air flighted to Seattle Childrens to the NICU where she was immediately underwent total body cooling to help combat the effects of brain damage due to her lack of oxygen and having to be resuscitated. She spent the next 4 days in a hypothermic state due to being diagnosed with HIE. She was on a CPAP machine and EEG glued to her head to monitor her brain. Avacyn had an MRI after she was warmed and they found that her brain scan was consistent with other babies with a traumatic birth. She had a couple brain bleeds and had a couple non visible seizures.

Crystal and James drove over to Seattle that night to be with their new daughter. They were lucky to be able to stay at the Ronald McDonald House so they just had to focus on their daughter. Avacyn spent the next week in the NICU and then spend the following two weeks in the impatient care at the hospital.

Crystal didn't get to hold her daughter for almost a week after she was born. That was the first time she had any skin to skin bonding with her. Yet she was able to start producing milk to feed Avacyn through her feeding tube.

Avacyn is a fighter and she is doing great despite all that is happening to her. She had a swallow study done while in the hospital where they found out that she has strider and Laryngomalacia which is where the skin flaps above the voice box is floppy and folds over her airway as she breathes. They found out that she also micro-aspirates as she swallows milk. So because of that, Crystal is unable to breastfeed Avacyn until tests show that she isn't doing that anymore. Which could take anywhere from 8 weeks to 6 months. Avacyn also has to do physical therapy on her arm to help the tendons and muscles to not get too tight and cause more damage as her nerves heal from her injury.

Currently Crystal has to pump and Avacyn is being fed mainly through a feeding tube with Crystals Milk. She is working so hard to make sure that Avacyn has everything that she needs. Having a new baby at home is stressful enough for any new couple, but having all the extra medical needs and bills on top of it is just overwhelming.

They are home now after 3 weeks in Seattle. They are unsure if they are responsible for the helicopter ride over to Seattle, but they are currently paying for Avacyn to have the medical supplies needed to eat.

I'm sure I missed some information because it is so hard to fit 3 weeks of information into a few paragraphs. I just want to do anything I can to help take some of the burden off of Crystal and James due to Avacyn's medical journey and her current medical needs.