I'm Tori's sister, Whitney, setting up this fundraiser to help with her medical expenses. If you know Tori, you probably know what's going on, but I'm going to share her story with you. A little background on her first, though. Tori is probably the most kind, genuine, and giving person I know. She goes out of her way to do something small or big any chance she gets for her family, friends, and even people she barely knows. She has a customer service job and she is one of the 1% that you'd be lucky to get on the phone. I've heard her say time and time again that she takes her job as a challenge, even with the most difficult customers, to make the customer happy. How many people that you've talked to on a customer service line have had that attitude? That alone tells you what kind of person she is. If she tries to make a complete stranger satisfied, imagine what she does for her family and friends. She is truly one of the most amazing people I know.

Tori has a 13 year old child, a husband, step daughter, and five dogs at home. She has carried two surrogate babies for two families that could not have their own children naturally. She loved every second of it and her desire to help a family that could not conceive came from the most genuine place in her heart. She gave up her body, her time, and 18 months of freedom (plus however many months of injections to prep her body, being poked and prodded, etc.) two c-sections (so this means months of recovery to be able to do normal things again), all to help someone else bring a baby into this world. Her last c-section, she almost bled out and had to have multiple bags of blood given to save her.

Over a year ago, her and her husband decided to try to have a baby of their own. After several months of not being able to conceive, they started going to a fertility specialist to help her get pregnant. Months of medications, injections, trips into the doctor, they finally got pregnant. At 8 weeks, they had a devastating loss and she miscarried. Several months later, they started trying again and had the same issues with her not being able to get pregnant. Making several trips in, they finally got the wonderful news that she was pregnant again. Everything was going very well, they had sonograms and heard baby's heart beat several times. On May 25, they went in for a regular check up and found that she had a complete placenta previa. This meant that she could not deliver the baby naturally, and a c-section was definite. They decided to have genetic testing done at that time. They were able to find out the sex (but were keeping it a surprise for a gender reveal party later).

On June 1, results came back from the genetic testing. Baby was clear from any genetic chromosomal defects, but came back positive for neural tube defects. This meant there was a possibility of things like spina bifida or anencephaly (brain defect). More testing was ordered after this news came back.

On June 7th, Tori had an ultrasound scheduled in which devastating news was found. Baby boy Riley had no heartbeat. The doctor was able to take measurements and they believe he passed a week or slightly more before that ultrasound. His head measured 17.5 weeks and his femur measured 18 weeks, despite her being 20 weeks and 4 days. The next day, she had an appointment to meet with the doctor about how to deliver baby Riley.

Mom and I accompanied Tori to this appointment, in which the doctor discussed her options. Since she had a previa, she had a high risk of bleeding if she delivered vaginally, but her ultrasound revealed that her placenta might have been adhered to the scar from her previous c-sections (this was unable to be determined, but the doctors felt good about this not being the case). This also carries a high risk for bleeding and could result in a hysterectomy if she started to bleed. So her best and safest option was to do a D&E. This unfortunately meant that she would never get to meet her baby boy that she tried so very hard to bring into this world. She would not get closure. She would not have the chance to hold him.

Ultimately, this is the route that was chosen, as a c-section meant a longer recovery time and much more involvement. So, the next day, Friday, we headed into her surgery. To make a long story short, her procedure went as planned in the beginning. The doctor successfully performed the D&E and baby Riley was extracted from her womb. They noted that she was bleeding more than expected and waited for the bleeding to slow down. Unfortunately after 20-30 minutes, nothing was slowing down and she had to have an emergency hysterectomy to stop the bleeding. When they opened her up, they found that she did indeed have an accreta (placenta adhered to the scar tissue from previous c-sections). This was the source of her bleeding. She had lost so much blood during surgery that they started giving her transfusions to make up for the amount she lost. In hindsight, they didn't give her enough to replenish her blood volume and she is having a hard time catching up.

In recovery (after a 5 hour surgery), she had about two hours of normalcy. Suddenly, her blood pressure dropped and she went pale. There was a medical alert called and 12-16 nurses immediately were in her room saving her life. She had another transfusion started, and there were several more times where her blood pressure dropped and she was in the danger zone. The doctors have been trying to figure out why her hemoglobin levels have not been increasing, and they think that the only explanation is that she wasn't given enough blood during surgery to help her recover and her body is struggling to keep up now. She has had at least 8 bags of blood, but might be up to 10 now, I can't keep track. She has had plasma transfusions to help with clotting, and had a procedure where they had to go in through the groin to check for bleeding arteries in the abdomen.

Medically, we've almost lost her a few times. These past few days have been the scariest days of my life. My sister doesn't deserve all this pain and heartache. She deserves to have the baby she so desired. That option has been taken from her and she has been left with the reality of not being able to ever have a child again, not getting to say goodbye to Riley, and struggling to survive. I can't imagine the amount of medical bills she is going to incur from this. I do know that she is still paying off medical bills for her fertility appointments from over a year ago. After giving life to two surrogate babies and her firstborn, this is her reality. Please help her, even a little bit, if anyone deserves help, it is this woman right here. If you know her, you are aware of how incredibly selfless and special she is.