Hello, I am Linda and the grandmother of Liara. I am asking for help for my daughter with the unexpected cost of a two week NICU stay as well as the other costs incurred with her 34 week preemie. She's got the wiggle, would you please help make the first few months of Liara’s life be a little less of a struggle? The money will go directly to her and the medical and preemie related expenses. Here is her story:

My daughter, Rebecca, and her husband, Mike had been trying for 2 years to complete their family when they received the great news that they were expecting on February 18th, 2026. They were further pleasantly surprised to find out they would be having a little girl this time, Liara Renée Liddy, and Garrus, their 6 year old, would finally be a big brother.

What started out as a routine trip to urgent care turned into a weekend of waiting for test results, and wondering what this meant for the baby, and what was going to happen next. Her blood pressure was 140/100, not bad enough for the ER but worrisome enough that the urgent care contacted her ob/gyn for further evaluation. She was only 33 weeks, and her BP had been in the normal range throughout the pregnancy to that point, including at her last appointment, so the plan at that time was to try to get to 37 weeks and then induce to prevent risking her life and the babies life with preeclampsia.

She was officially diagnosed with preeclampsia by her ob on Monday 1/5/2026, when the results showed proteins in the urine, and her BP of 160/110, and was sent to labor and delivery at the hospital for evaluation. By the time labor and delivery took her vitals it was down to 150/102. Still high but treat the patient, not the number, right? They couldn't access the doctor's test results and so misdiagnosed her with gestational high blood pressure, and she was sent home. She asked if she had any restrictions and she was told no, and that she was fine to go to work the next day. Since she had planned on working until the day she delivered, she went to work the next day. That was the one part of her initial birthing plan that technically went according to plan, however she planned on working at least 5-6 more weeks to continue to save, pay bills, etc… for when the baby arrived.

Sometimes babies come when they come. Sometimes you have to make the tough choices, sometimes the choice is made for you. Sometimes something as simple as a $25 blood pressure cuff can save a life, or in this case two lives. Tuesday morning after dropping off the then soon to be big brother, Rebecca’s husband Mike stopped at the grocery store and picked up a blood pressure cuff. When she came home from work, she wasn’t feeling so great so they tried the blood pressure cuff. At first they thought the cuff was broken because her numbers were so high, 185/125. I will not insult the audience by going into detail what that could have meant if preeclampsia was left untreated. Unfortunately the only cure is delivery, and by Wednesday January 7, she was officially 34 weeks. It was not the 37 weeks she had hoped for but with all factors and variables considered, inducing was the best medical choice for both baby and mommy.

She would no longer get the natural water birth she had planned, in fact it became more like the old school birth before labor and delivery rooms, when they wheel the mom into the OR at the last minute and mom is screaming “the baby is coming!!!” That isn’t too far from what actually happened but please respect the family’s privacy on some details. The medical reasons for delivering in the OR were just in case there were complications, and the OR they planned for had a direct door to the NICU. My daughter made it to the OR in time. Her doctor… not so much. The resident on hand delivered Liara Renée Liddy at 7:25pm weighting in at a tiny but mighty 4lbs 9oz. It was only minutes later I saw the nurses coming back from the OR all smiles and said little Liara was crying and breathing on her own. I broke down in tears of joy, because anyone who has had a baby knows the lungs and immune system are the last to develop. She was taken to be evaluated in the NICU, where she was about to spend the first two weeks of her little life.

Little Liara was a fighter and had a few milestones she had to meet to come home, the biggest being that she was just too small. She had to be 5lbs, or 2260grams, to fit in a carseat to come home. Gaining to 5 lbs wasn’t the only milestone.

She also had a little trouble maintaining her body temperature without the warmer/incubator, she was finally moved from the incubator to a regular hospital crib the second week.

She had a couple of “events’ of not breathing, which is normal with newborns as well as preemies, but hers were happening too often. She had trouble maintaining her blood sugar at first so she was on a glucose IV for the better part of the first week.

She wasn’t gaining on breast milk alone in the feeding tube, so a high calorie protein supplement was added to the breast milk. She needed to be able to gain weight without the feeding tube to come home.

She has met all these milestones and others I probably don't know about and tomorrow they will finally do the carseat test and if she passes, she gets to come home.

The birth of a baby, a very much wanted and much loved addition to the family, should be a happy occasion. It has been, for the most part. She had the best possible outcome, a healthy breathing, crying, peeing, pooping, latching and nursing beautiful baby girl. The realization of everything that has happened in the last 3 weeks is beginning to hit hard. Just because she’s coming home doesn’t mean she not going to need extra care is sinking in along with all the additional medical expense. Preemies have more doctor visits and have more complications their first year of life, and we don’t know what type of medical bills she’ll be facing in the future, as premies are known to have lifelong complications such as asthma.

I don’t know much about her insurance, what the copays are, what the out of pocket maximum is, or how her maternity leave works, or if she qualifies for short term disability, and because those things tend to be considered private, I do not know exactly how much she needs. A March of Dimes study from 2016 shows that the cost of raising an newborn full term infant vs a preemie can be ten times higher. At the time it was around $45k for the first year alone. Things have only increased in price since then as I am sure you all have noticed. So here comes the ask. Please help Rebecca with the NICU bill she is about to be hit with, along with her stay which was longer than expected due to the preeclampsia. In addition to the medical bills, there are lots of hidden costs that come up with a preemie newborn. They thought they had time. The baby shower was literally scheduled the Sunday after she was born, so they have nothing, and if people bought from the original registry, they need some preemie clothes and items now too. She thought she had more time to work and save during that last month and a half. Any amount will help, as they aren’t even expecting me to write this. She’s not the kind of person to ask. Thank you for taking the time to read my daughter’s story.