Maternity Leave

Hello Everyone,

My husband and I lost our first child, Kennedy, 12 hours after he was born in November 2021. We had a relatively normal full term pregnancy and his death was unexpected. Medical bills AFTER insurance have run us close to $30,000 that we have managed to pay out of pocket over time.

We are now pregnant with Kennedy's little brother, Desmond, who is due in late January. Due to the PTSD from our previous birth and loss and the stress of this pregnancy being high risk, we felt it best for me to go down to a part time job and get back into counseling. This decision has been amazing for my mental health and our ability to manage bi-weekly to weekly doctors appointments with the OB and Maternal Fetal Medicine, but it has been hard on our wallets. Aside from going down to part time, I am not elligible for disability benefits or vacation/maternity leave. After losing Kennedy, maternity leave with Desmond became of the utmost importance as we want to value the time we have with our baby, as we know how precious it is. Chris does have benefits, so this would be to cover my portion of the bills (utilities, credit cards, car, medical bills) and to make it financially feasible for us to take time off with Desmond. We never got that time with Kennedy, so this means a lot to us. Any amount helps.

We are asking for money in lieu of gifts for Desmond, as we already have all the nursery and baby items we need from our previous pregnancy. All those items are still new and unused, so the most beneficial thing to us at this point is money so we can stay home with Desmond without financial stress. Please consider donating and sharing with your friends.