Gianni's heart surgery

During Christmas of 2019 my sister gave me the best news ever by telling me they were pregnant, and then gave me the shock of my life with one word: TWINS! Thus started the whirlwind of the Irula twins and it has not slowed down. Plans were made, showers were planned,  the nursery was painted, and then the unexpected happened. Baby boy Gianni was diagnosed in utero with a complete Atrioventricular canal defect, a congenital defect that is a hole between the left and right chambers in the heart allowing blood to flow through them out into the lung arteries that can only be corrected with surgery. Giannis defect was expected to be quite severe and would most likely require surgery immediately after birth. 

This is not easy news for any parent to hear, and as Domenica and Carlitos struggled with the cloud hanging over their happy time, the babies that they had prayed so hard for, they were hit with another whammy: COVID. As the saying goes “the best laid plans of mice and men go oft awry”. Domenica was also diagnosed with IUGR and told that both babies were in the bottom percentiles for size and were in danger. I can write pages and pages of how difficult the months before the birth were for this family, the fears, the sleepless nights, the prayers for health and safety for the lives growing inside the womb, and the extraordinary measures they went through to keep themselves healthy both physically and mentally for their children.

On June 30th 2020 my sister and brother in law welcomed two beautiful babies into this crazy world, both bigger than expected (5lbs plus each!), alert, and absolutely beautiful. Giannis heart defect is still there, but thankfully not as large as initially feared and the doctors felt that surgery could safely wait until he was about 4 months old to allow him to grow bigger and stronger so that he could recover from open heart surgery easier. They went home after 2 days in the hospital and no time in the NICU! 

Fast forward to now, the last 4 months have seen this family struggle with all the first time parent issues, the lack of sleep, feedings, diapers, and more times two, and then add in a global pandemic. And because of COVID they have had to do all this alone, their families all live scattered across the country and with Gianni being high risk travel to them is not advised. Gianni’s surgery has been scheduled for December 16th and if you have read this far thank you, I am now getting to the point of this GoFundMe. The surgery is 5-6 hours long, up to a 2 week hospital stay and a 6 week recovery period.  Domenica has exhausted her maternity leave and is now taking unpaid medical leave to care for the twins through Gianni’s surgery and recovery. Not only is she not bringing in an income but must pay 100% of her insurance premiums and although very thankful to have health insurance, their plan comes with a high out of pocket expense. This adds to the ever increasing worry and stress of the immediate future. If you feel so inclined, please give to this fund, so that we can ease their burden a bit and allow them to focus on the health and well being of their family. As always, please keep them all in your prayers, they are so very appreciated.