Help Us Help Maddie

Hi! We’re David and Melissa, proud parents of a now-7-month-old girl named Maddie, and we’re asking everyone for financial help (Every little bit counts), prayers and positive thoughts, and to spread our message among your family and friends. Thank you!!! The outpouring of love and support for our little girl so far has been overwhelming.

Maddie was born in 2021 with an omphalocele, which is a rare birth defect of the abdominal wall, where, in Maddie’s case, her liver sits outside of her body.

 

(the red on the bandage is not blood. It’s medicine to help skin grow so that her liver can be protected.)

 

 

 

When we first learned of Maddie’s condition (via ultrasound), we were heartbroken for the baby girl we hadn’t yet met, shocked, and unsure what this would mean for her (there are a lot of potential complications and conditions associated with omphaloceles) and our family.

But we chose to embrace our new reality, and focus on doing whatever needed to be done in order to ensure Maddie was not only brought into this world safely, but that she also had the opportunity to live a happy, healthy life.

in a few month’s time, we got ahold of a fantastic children’s hospital, sold our belongings, quit our careers, and moved away from the place we’d long called home to be near the hospital.

 

And then…

 

 

 

Little Maddie arrived…underweight as expected, but alive and beautiful.

 

There are complications, digestion issues being a big one for her, and so we need to be with her to be sure she eats and grows, gets her medicine, and stays as healthy as possible (There are also immune issues, and so we’ve had to stay away from people.)

Since Maddie’s birth, we lived in the NICU, then in a room in the children’s wing (big step up!), and now we are home, protecting the omphalocele until it grows skin, making sure her digestion is as painless as possible, and awaiting surgery.

 

The main goal now is to get her to a healthy weight and size, so that she can have surgery, and we are getting there, slowly but surely. Despite everything, Maddie is a happy baby overall. She loves the funny sounds her dad makes with his mouth, she’s fascinated with dogs, and she loves to stick toys in her mouth.

 

 

 

 

As you can imagine, this whole journey has been more expensive than we ever could have imagined. Though we thought we’d planned well enough, things haven’t gone as expected, and as much as we hate asking others for help, we need it. We are asking for your help to get Maddie through surgery/surgeries, to give her an opportunity to make something of her life.

Whether you send money, prayers, or both, we appreciate it. Thank you.