Eva Grace NICU and Beyond Journey

As many of you are aware Sunday, June 30th, was 4 weeks since my brother Jesse and Sister-In Law Leslie were blessed with the birth of their Beautiful baby girl Eva Grace. I wanted to take a minute and thank everyone for your prayers and support. During Leslie’s 26th week of pregnancy, her amniotic fluid was very low which was likely due to ruptured sac and she was hospitalized for several days. They decided the baby was under distress and would have a greater chance of growing outside of the womb than in, so they delivered her by c-section on June 2nd. Eva Grace was born weighing 1 pound 7 ounces and measuring only 12” long. When she was born, she was able to breathe normal oxygen levels on her own with some assistance from a CPAP machine which is a miracle for a baby this premature. That alone was one of many blessings from God. The first two weeks she was doing well, she lost weight, then began gaining as expected. They call this the “honeymoon phase” which we were warned about. Over the past two weeks she has had several medical complications. She had a grade 2-3 brain bleed, which we found out yesterday has since healed. Another answer to prayers. Due to anemia, she has undergone two blood transfusions, which is common for babies at this gestation and more transfusions may be necessary depending on her blood count. She has been a strong fighter through it all. This past week she had to be revived via CPR twice and it was extremely difficult to witness. Doctors believe it may have something to do with her inability to maintain breathing during feeding. She is now relying on extra oxygen to help her when she gets tired or forgets to breathe. Although very scary for Leslie and Jesse she has pulled through and is doing well. Eva is now 2 pounds 4 ounces and 13” long and growing daily. The hospital here has a wonderful and experienced staff that are so devoted to taking care of her as well as them during the most difficult moments. The doctors feel that everything she is going through is normal for her tiny body and have no doubts that she will be fine and healthy.

She will probably be in the NICU for several more weeks before going home. Leslie carries their medical insurance through her employer. She was given eight weeks of leave with disability, which means she only has a few weeks left. She is not ready to leave her baby and go back to work anytime soon, nor would any of us in her position. She was only at her job for 50 weeks before she went out on medical leave therefore, she’s not qualified for FMLA which requires 52 weeks of employment prior to leave. There is a good possibility that Leslie will not be returning to work and could lose her benefits as well as salary. Jesse can pick up the medical benefits through his job, but they cost about twice as much as Leslie was paying. The last thing that they should have to worry about is finances during this time.

We want to help alleviate some of this financial burden so they can focus on loving Eva Grace, helping her grow healthy and eventually bringing her home. If there’s any way you find it in your heart to help financially, we can’t thank you enough. If you are not able to help them financially, please continue praying for Eva Grace. Thank you for taking the time to read this. God Bless you.