Serenity's Support Fund

Hello,
 My name is Jessica. I'd like to introduce my granddaughter Serenity. She is our family's smallest and most precious miracle. Then we have her parents: my son, Saven and his girlfriend, Demrie.



From the moment Demrie discovered she was pregnant, it had been a battle. Just as quickly as she had found out she was expecting, she spent the night at the ER because she was bleeding and hemeraging. She was afraid that she was miscarrying the baby she'd just learned she was expecting. After many tests she learned she had been pregnant with twins and miscarried one of the babies which formed a massive blood clot in her uterus for months. Serenity (twin #2 at that point) was still considered very high risk. After months of monitoring, the clot had eventually dissolved and Demrie had felt some relief again. Then they learned that their baby would be a little girl. Everything seemed to be going wonderfully and baby shower plans had begun. Until Demrie went for her next check-up (her appnts had been reduced back to the standard every 2 weeks) and the ultra sound tech noticed that there was absolutely no amniotic fluid left (at 22 weeks). The Dr's explained that without this fluid she wouldn't be able to move or possibly grow, she would be "squished". Dr's went on to say there is only a 10% chance that she will be born without medical issues. They said she could be blind, deaf, born with cerebral palsy, spina bifida etc. When being faced with these odds and options of termination they held strong for their little girl and Demrie did her best to try and keep little Serenity as comfortable as possible for as long as possible. Weekly ultra sounds and trips to Seattle to see the NICU Dr's occured. Demrie discovered that she had gained back 3% of her fluid and according to the Dr's she could have a chance at carrying to term (a 36-37 week goal). Things were looking bright and happy for a moment. Until the day after the Fourth of July their only family vehicle was vandalized. In the middle of the night, their car window was smashed out and 8 lit double mortar fireworks were thrown inside. They woke up to chaos; their car and new baby items inside up in flames. The front windshield shattered from the fireworks impact and the car was confirmed totaled. After so much unwanted stress and worry Demrie's water broke early causing her to have to check into the hospital for the remainder of her pregnancy. She was on medical bed rest and could only leave her room for 30 minutes at a time, using a wheelchair. Serenity needed to stay inside as long as she could. At the time when her water broke she was only 27 weeks old, and her lungs were showing 3 weeks under developed. Dr's said she may not be able to make it as her lungs were too small. So before delivery Demrie would need steroid shots to prepare Serenity's lungs for if she were to be born in the next 48 hrs. With lots of bed rest and close monitoring from the hospital Dr's, Serenity stayed cooking.

Demrie of course can best describe how she felt during all this. Here are some of Serenity's momma's own words telling a story about their journey....

little did we know that the 36 week planned C section would not occur. 4 days after Demrie's Facebook post Serenity made her debut at 30 weeks. She's our 2 pound 12 ounce little miracle baby. She will be in the NICU for the next 6-12 weeks. At the moment she is on a ventilator. oxygen tube, feeding tube and any type of monitor you can imagine but our little Warrior is strong.

For the time Serenity is in the NICU mom and dad are having to stay at a hotel about 25 minutes from the hospital and they are having to take the hotel's community shuttle back and forth to see their baby and for mom to pump so that her breast milk can be given to Serenity through the feeding tube.  

I am reaching out on behalf of my granddaughter, my son and my soon-to-be daughter-in-law and asking for help in many areas. We have never tried any sort of thing like this before but as many know, you do what you have to for family.  We are a family of 6 and I am asking for help now to help my oldest child get the best start for his new family.

There are quite a few things they are in need of financial help with. Unfortunately our insurance claim on their car is not enough to replace the old vehicle so they are now without a car; having to rely on their hotel shuttle until the days when they are able to occasionally borrow their grandpa's truck. They are also needing most baby essentials again as quite a bit were in the trunk of their car when it was vandalized. Momma needs a good preemie breast pump but her insurance will not cover this because she isn't the subscriber. Among normal essentials like food (because the hospital is ridiculously expensive. ie: $0.85 per piece of bacon).

I'm reaching out now to ask for help in financing some of these things. We are not in the interest of being greedy, and it has taken quite a bit of time to decide to go the gofundme route but we are hoping our story and struggles will touch someone enough to help in any way possible. Even if it were just to be $1.00.

I want to personally thank anyone who stopped here to read about my graddaughter's journey. We are continuing to watch out families little Warrior be the bravest soul we've ever met. Our goal is $7500 to assist in getting the baby essientials so Serenity's room can be ready for her when she is finally able to come home from the NICU,  to help get momma a good electric breast pump and to get this little family back into a safe vehicle of their own so they do not have to shuttle to see their little girl.

Thank you to any and ALL who are willing and able to help. It truly means the world to our family. And if you know us personally then you know family is our entire world. <3