Everlee's Brain Surgery

Hello, my name is Tamara and our family needs help for our baby girl Everlee.

I have been through heartbreak after heartbreak following several miscarriages and various health complications. Finally, after life’s last whirlwind, I’m pregnant again. It’s surreal, so I was going through the motions of living, terrified to lose another one, expecting the same outcome. One day turns into another, and another, and another closer than I’ve ever come to having a viable pregnancy. To motherhood. Morning sickness, indigestion, and exhaustion. My heart melted as what felt like gas bubbles turned into first kicks, movement and then arches through the ultrasound as our little one moves around and stretches out to show off her growing limbs.

On May 24th, I was on the phone, planning, sharing memes, trying to situate maternity photos, choosing outfits to show off her bump and picking a location, deciding that it would be just as special to have these photos taken in a park or in mom and dad’s back yard. Later that same evening I was in such pain and ended up going to the hospital by ambulance, with what I could only assume were Braxton hicks contractions.

Thankfully the staff at BGH were thorough, after monitoring and several tests I was told I was in labor and already dilating but I was only 27 weeks. What’s worse was that the baby’s heart rate was dropping and she needed help.

Frantic calls were made to find out if either KGH or CHEO had an incubator available. Thankfully KGH responded and within minutes we were in the back of the ambulance on our way to KGH. Upon arrival at KGH the team was ready, trying to assess the situation, having serious difficulty finding the dropping heart rate and told within minutes of arriving that an emergency c section needed to happen immediately.

Our little girl Everlee arrived May 25th at 27 weeks at 1:05am, after a lot of effort, the highly skilled team was able to resuscitate her after 12 minutes, and at 1:17am she was breathing. She was wheeled in as lifesaving measures were taken, tubes, wires and monitors in place to keep her alive.

To add to the storm, within 24hours of being born, she suffered from a lung hemmorage and her little lungs filled with blood and again the team was on the move as her heart rate and oxygen dropped quickly, providing treatment and assistance for Everlee which resulted in her lung collapsing.

For the first 72h, we weren't allowed to touch her, and after a week of not being able to do more than touch our little girls foot through the hole in the incubator she was, stable enough for me to hold her. Tears flowed as I got to hold my baby girl for the first time.

Each day is a new day, an up day and then another challenge. She has been through so much; lung hemmorage, tachycardia and bradycardia, collapsed lung, unable to breathe on her own, a heart murmur, brain hemmorage and hydrocephalus resulting in a need for surgery. Due to the extent of the brain hemmorage, we've been advised this will most likely result in permanent brain damage which could mean she could be a normal girl growing up, or she may never walk, she may never breathe on her own, she may not read or write or be able to go to school.

Everlee needs to be transferred to Toronto to have life saving brain surgery to treat her hydrocephalus and give her this fighting chance. And were told to expect this to take months in Toronto. We have been blessed by family and friends generosity, giving as they could to make sure myself and dad are fed and have a place to sleep to be near our little girl while in Kingston.

Either way, our baby girl is right where she needs to be. We don’t know how long this journey will be but she is worth every single minute of it.

All funds will be used towards our stay in Toronto, mainly accommodations and ensuring we can continue to pay for our regular bills on top of these expenses as we have already depleted our savings during our stay in Kingston. But these funds will also help us with train tickets for dad to go to and from Toronto to be with us, medication to ensure I can continue milk production as it has been decreasing significantly, food and beverages, and ensuring we can continue to be by our little girl. If you are willing to help, it would make a huge difference, it doesn’t have to be a lot, every bit helps.

Thank you.