Help Dani and Audra During Hospital Stay

Hello. My name is Audra. I’m reaching out through this website as a way to raise much needed funds for during my stay at the Mott’s Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, MI with my 20 month old daughter, Dani.

I will give you guys her back story. I got pregnant with this Miracle when I was 32 years old. The pregnancy itself was hard. I was bed ridden through the first trimester causing my older kids to miss school. At 23 weeks gestation I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes so I had to watch the amount of carbs I ate. By the 8th month I was in false labor. Having Braxton hicks contractions that I had to be admitted and given a drug to stop them. Thank god the contractions never caused me to dilate or my water to break. At 38 weeks my doctor decided to medically induce me via emergency due to findings on an ultrasound he didn’t like. 4 hours and 3 pushes later, Dani was born. 6 pounds 14 ounces, 18 inches long. She was jaundice so she was on the blue light belt for the first 4 days of her life. She passed her hearing and vision test. She seemed to be thriving for the first 5 months of her life. The first thing that alarmed me was her refusal to hold her bottle and later on sippy cup. I have to hold it. Her hands would be held up by her head in tight fists. Each time I attempted to give her the cup she would jerk away, start screaming and cry. By the time she was 6 months old, I noticed she showed little to no interest in toys. To this day, she has never picked up food or a toy and put it to her mouth.

I started noticing abnormal things in her when I would try to feed her the next stage of puréed food that had the small chunks in it. She gagged really hard after the first bite and refused to eat that. Soon after she began covering her ears with her hands and would kick her legs whenever she became uncomfortable. She does that in the high chair at feeding time, whenever we go out in public, doctors office, restaurants, and to the store. She does the ear covering and leg kicking behavior along with scared cries.

Fast forward to now. For the past 8 days, my angel has refused to drink any milk or liquid form. I took her to a local hospital twice within a 24 hr period. The second time, they gave her an IV, did a blood test and after several hours between me, the nurses and doctor themself trying to get her to drink orally, the doctor ordered my daughter to have a cat scan. They attempted to fully sedate her by giving her two small does of Benadryl. Although she was sleepy, it wasn’t enough for her to stay still for the 3 minutes needed for the test to be done. It was decided there that she would be shipped via ambulance to Mott’s Children’s Hospital. Blood tests revealed she was severely dehydrated and her blood sugar was 48. They administered glucose immediately. They took an xray of her chest and it was clean. The doctors wanted an MRI but she had to be sedated because my daughter cannot lie still. Touch is uncomfortable for her. She had her MRI yesterday and no abnormalities were found (thank god) but we are still struggling to find answers. Autism testing doesn’t happen until she is 2. We are 3 months away from the acceptable age for that testing. Her overall diet is terrible because certain tastes and textures cause her to physically freak out. At 20 months old she is still waiting puréed fruits with rice or oatmeal cereal only. So dietary and the pediatricians are working to provide her with a more nutritious diet. They gave me a calorie powder I can mix with her food as well as a puree that is more potent with proteins and other vitamins and minerals she cannot get from her current diet.

They also discovered she has an ear infection and they are treating her with and antibiotic.

The reason I am asking for your help is because the specialists can not give me a date on when my daughter will be discharged. I am currently off work because I need to be here. My husband is on the road and does get paid again for two more weeks.

Whatever donations I receive will help my for my guest trays (her insurance won’t cover it) and much needed gas money so my dad and kids can make the 4 hr round trip to come here for a visit and to drop off some clothes for me.

Dani’s road from discovery to recovery will be a long one. She has a lot of sensory related issues that will take time to properly de sensitize her so she can live a more active and healthy life style.

Thank you all for your help. My family greatly appreciates it❤️