Help Our Little Warrior Continue Her Fight

I never thought I would be writing something like this.

Our baby girl was born at 39 weeks, and what should have been the happiest day of our lives quickly turned into fear, uncertainty, and heartbreak. Shortly after birth, she was unable to swallow and kept vomiting everything she tried to take in. That was when doctors discovered she had esophageal atresia, a rare congenital condition that required emergency specialized care.

Instead of taking our daughter home, we watched her being transferred to another hospital for emergency surgery at only 3 days old.

As parents, we were completely unprepared. Her condition had not been diagnosed during pregnancy, so everything happened suddenly. One moment we were expecting to bring home our healthy newborn baby, and the next we were surrounded by NICU machines, monitors, surgeries, and doctors discussing complications no parent ever imagines hearing.

Her surgery was complicated by vocal cord paralysis, and our daughter spent months in the NICU fighting to survive. During that time, she could not feed by mouth and depended entirely on feeding tubes for nutrition.

Every single day felt like another battle she had to fight.

Instead of holding our baby freely, comforting her, and enjoying those first precious newborn moments, we found ourselves living between hospital units, sleeping in chairs, waking up to alarms and procedures, and praying every day for progress. There were moments when we felt helpless watching our tiny baby endure so much pain.

Eventually, we transferred her care to Boston Children's Hospital in hopes of giving her access to more specialized treatment. Since we live in New York, every appointment requires a three-hour drive each way, overnight hotel stays, time away from work, and additional expenses that our insurance does not cover.

At the same time, our family has faced overwhelming financial hardship. During pregnancy, my wife tragically lost her job, and I have had to significantly reduce my work hours to care for our daughter and support our family through her ongoing medical needs.

The expenses continue to grow:

medical bills,

travel for specialized care,

hotel stays,

feeding therapy,

medications,

nutrition support,

and everyday living expenses while our entire world feels paused.

We have exhausted much of our savings trying to provide our daughter with the care she needs.

But despite everything she has gone through, our little girl continues to amaze us every single day. Her strength, resilience, and smile have carried us through some of the darkest moments of our lives. Watching her reach her first birthday feels like a miracle we once prayed desperately for in hospital rooms late at night.

For her first birthday, instead of gifts, we are asking for help to support her ongoing medical journey and relieve some of the burden our family is carrying during this difficult time.

If you are able to donate, share our story, or simply keep our daughter in your prayers, it would mean more to us than words can express.

Thank you for standing with our little warrior and our family.

With love and gratitude,

Maz & Family