On may 5th at 8am (30 wks gestation) my water started leaking. At 1 pm that day we drove to the hospital that had been handling my OB care. While there, they confirmed that my water had ruptured by 3 pm that afternoon It was determined it was best that I was transported downtown to Butterworth hospital where they could better care for me and our baby! After 3 days of being poked at and pumped with magnesium sulfate (which made me feel like I was dying) along with a number of other fluids and antibiotics and failed ivs and blood draws and iron infusions and scans on my liver and kidneys... the doctors came in to my room and told me they had to start inducing my labor due to possible infection due to my water leaking. THEY BEGAN THE PROCESS OF INDUCING MY LABOR. As you can imagine, knowing it was far too early to be giving birth to our son, i was scared to say the least. I was SCARED... TERRIFIED of what was about to unfold OR AFRID OF THE UNKNOWN and I was EXHAUSTED! At 10:21 pm may 8th, i gave birth to our son AXTON WILDER-ELI! 3LBS 15OZ!

I got ONE MINUTE EXACTLY.... with him on my belly before they took him down to NICU where he will remain until he is able to breath in his own, hold his body temp, gain some weight, and tolerate feedings by mouth.

I have 4 kids at home who also still need us to get them through everyday. With our youngest (3 years old) was diagnosed developmentally delayed and with autism. I have been waiting for a final determination from the disability office for the last year. So as you can imagine I have been struggling financially even prior to this situation. Its crucial that I am am able to pay our necessary bills to keep things going and manage the expenses of fuel to get to the hospital... along with that.... WE HAVE NOTHING PREPARED FOR BABY AXTON WHEN HE IS ABLE TO FINALLY COME HOME TO BE WITH US! NO CRIB, CARSEAT, DIAPERS, CLOTHES, NOTHING! We thought we still had 10 weeks to prepare for his arrival. We are asking for help from our family, friends and community to help make this time of uncertainty as painless as possible for our family.

Splitting up our time between taking care of things at home, and being at the hospital with our son as he fights through each goal and medical milestone has been difficult for both of us. The unknown is what I think is the most difficult and help to get through this with the least amount of unforeseen struggles will make the world of difference for us as parents and for our children!

We want to thank everyone in advance for being a part of Axtons journey through the nicu as he continues to fight and grow for us!