This is baby Nova. She was born 7/31/26, at 32 weeks gestation. She had her placenta detach (placental abruption) and I went into early labor. We both nearly died. Somehow I found the strength to push when they said her heart rate wasn’t doing good and to keep pushing. We already knew she was going to need the NICU.

In her second day of life the Nicu doctor discovered that Nova had a cleft pallet and would need surgery in another state when she is between 6 months to 1 year of age. They had misplaced her feeding tube but didn’t catch that mistake until 2 days later. They repositioned it, intubated her, and she was then put on morphine for the intubation.

I was discharged from my post partum hospital stay When nova was 6 days old, which was hard but I could see the hospital from my front porch which I had found comfort in that fact. That

Night around 10pm I got a call from her doctor that she had some bleeding they saw in her diaper. They believed after checking that she had just pushed too hard when having a bowel movement. Two hours later, at midnight, my phone was blowing up from NICU staff. They had come to realize that Nova had developed Necrotizing Entercolitis and that this could very well take her life. They said they were preparing her transport from life flight to a bigger more capable hospital. Where there is a special surgeon that if she needed the emergency surgery she would be where she needed to be.

As of 8/9 they’re unable to definitively tell us if it has cleared but that the bowel is hard to see on xray, although she does seem to be doing better.

Nova is going to be strictly breast milk fed when she can eat again. I am now afraid to give her any formula to supplement and now she is a few hours away for travel, it will be essential I am able to get up there to bring her milk as much as possible.

They will not be able to send Nova back to the hospital where I live because of her insurance. Their argument is that it will cost a lot more to transport her back if she heals from this stomach infection and that the hospital she’s at now has everything she will need medically. That being said, I have two toddlers to take care of while their dad works. He works every day. My children cannot be in the nicu, because they are 1.5 and 3.5 years old.

I am awaiting a call from the social worker to find about hospital resources for my family, from possibly gas vouchers to staying at their Ronald McDonald house on site with Nova. The only issue with me staying there VS staying at a hotel is that they cannot stay at the Ronald McDonald room with me due to their age. We live paycheck to paycheck and cannot afford dad to miss work, need help with gas and travel, as the fathers

Income goes toward maintaining our families lives outside of the NICU.

If you cannot donate, we appreciate even just Prayers/shares/ positive thoughts for baby Nova. I will be updating as things go.

xo

Nova’s family