For many years I did everything on my own,  too embarrassed to ask for help but now I realize that none of us can do this parenting life alone,  sometimes it takes a village of angels to push through. 

When my sweet  daughter Giada was 7 months old, in what I can only imagine a blind rage,  she suffered a skull fracture at the hands of her father. A man that had been a doting dad, whom I loved and trusted, but who had recently begun acting moody and withdrawn. I received a call from him that no parent wants to ever receive, that he was in an ambulance and for some reason that he could not explain our daughter might not make it to the hospital.

I frantically rushed to the hospital from work to find my precious healthy baby that I had just kissed goodbye a few hours ago in pain, with swelling and bleeding in her brain, seizures and retinol hemorrhaging, diagnosed with traumatic brain injury.  The father was arrested at the hospital and incarcerated and I was left to pick up the pieces of our shattered life and take care of my recovering baby. It all happened so fast that the only thing my brain could tell me was that this is a nightmare and you will wake up soon to your lovely family. 

7 years later Giada is still in recovery, inching along and breaking glass ceilings every few months.
Never in a million years did I imagine that it would take this long to fully heal. What happened to my daughter will never make sense,  but with a lot of prayer and counselling I've learned to embrace our new normal.
She was in mostly a vegetative state for a few years, traumatized and anxious, sensitive to sound and light.
Gia was severely delayed in all her milestones after her injury but with ongoing grueling therapy, lots of prayers and hard work she has improved tremendously!

The toughest part at this moment is watching her struggle at school,  she is a very bright and positive child, however due to poor memory, coordination and cognitive abilities school is very hard and she is falling further and further behind.

She has weekly speech, OT, PT and a team of doctors monitoring her progress. And even though I have a great job,  I still have to work a second job at night to keep up with the onslaught of expenses. The stress of keeping it all together feels unbearable at times. 

Any kind souls who would like to contribute to her recovery in even the smallest way would mean the world to us. The funds will go towards ongoing medical expenses, therapy, insurance premiums and an advocate for special education services. 
I hope our story brings more awareness to infant child abuse and hope for those with babies in injury recovery.