You're probably here because you know and love Amber, Justin, and their beautiful family.

On April 7th, their family grew by 1 as they welcomed a strong and beautiful baby girl into the world. This was a day we all eagerly awaited as Amber had been scheduled for an induction at 38 weeks pregnant. After 5 hours of labor her water broke, and very soon after complications arose, and she was rushed into an emergency c-section.

Unfortunately, doctors struggled to contain Amber's bleeding during surgery and had to perform an emergency partial hysterectomy to stop the bleeding and later had to perform an exploratory surgery due to continued excessive blood loss. We now know Amber suffered a seizure caused by a rare and life-threatening birth complication called an Amniotic Fluid Embolism (AFE), described as an allergic reaction to amniotic fluid entering the mother's bloodstream, and later a stroke. It's a blessing Amber was at the hospital when this happened as the quick response of doctors and nurses saved both Amber and baby's life. Amber was on a life-support for 2 days, and after 5 days in the ICU has been moved to a step-down floor to continue recovering with additional monitoring and physical therapy. She's got her fire back and is very determined to get healthy and leave the hospital. Baby girl suffered 2 seizures after birth and was also on life-support for 2 days. She's now in the NICU healing after having undergone cryotherapy to reduce additional trauma. While the road ahead is still not clear, we are blessed both Amber and baby are stable and healing -- these girls are STRONG and making strides every day.

This fundraiser has been started to assist with all things keeping Amber and her family going. Justin is between two units at the hospital, and home with their two older girls, Amaria and Alivia, daily. We ask that you consider donating to this fundraiser in support of Amber, Justin and their girls. Paid paternity leave is not abundant, and Justin's presence at the hospital right now is essential -- he's their rock. We don't want them to have to worry about a single medical bill, rent, groceries, etc during this time as Amber and baby's healing is most important. With your help, we can come together as a community to support and uplift their family through this hardship.

All donations will be deposited directly into Justin's account to use as their family needs. For any questions, please contact me (Alyson) under organizers below. I'm Amber's sister and will continue to post updates as possible.

Thank you so much for your support, thoughts, and prayers.

Update 4/14/2025:

After many scans we have some news, but not super clear answers. Doctors found 2 additional clots in Amber's arm and lungs and continue to closely monitor her condition. She's on blood thinner to dissolve the clots and is undergoing testing every 6 hours to monitor. Her transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) yesterday gave some answers about what caused the stroke. Following delivery, the left and right chambers in her heart momentarily separated, allowing a clot to pass through and go to her brain. Doctors continue to perform CT scans daily to monitor her brain.

Baby is continuing to heal and make strides. Her MRI brain scan came back CLEAR, meaning she has no brain damage from the time she went without oxygen during birth or the subsequent seizures!! She's eating great and is an absolute ray of sunshine amidst everything. Big sisters are smitten and eager to bring her home.

It's not lost upon us what a blessing their skilled and compassionate medical teams are, the power or prayer, uplifting thoughts and intentions, and the absolute miracle we've witnessed in the hospital. Amber and baby girl were both on life-support less than a week ago, and now we're waking up grateful for another day with them both.

Update 4/18/2025

Amber and baby Aiylah are home from the hospital!! Amber continues to do PT & OT as well as a slew of follow up appointments with neurologists, hematologists, and cardiologists. For the time being, they're settling into this new sense of "normal". We're taking it one step at a time and celebrating everyone being home and under one roof again!

Update 5/18/2025

The last month has been a whirlwind of healing and doctor appointments to continue monitoring and determine next steps. Cardiologists are back and forth deciding if Amber will need heart surgery to prevent future strokes. On Wednesday, May 14 Amber started experiencing a lot of bleeding and visited her doctor, who thought she may have a hematoma and called for additional tests. The next day she started running a fever and went to the ER feeling generally unwell. After labs, x-ray, and CT scan they found a 5cm spot on her left side and was transferred back to Aultman Hospital where all of this began in April. She came home Friday only to be sent back on Saturday evening after unexpectedly passing a large blood clot and passing out. She has blood in her abdomen and doctors are continuing to run labs to find answers. Prayers are so appreciated.

Update 5/20/2025

Doctors continue to run regular blood tests to monitor Amber's blood counts -- they are rising but not quite stable yet. Doctors are waiting for these levels to rise more before putting her back on blood thinner. Once they restart the blood thinner they will monitor her levels to ensure she doesn't start excessively bleeding again. The fluid in her abdomen/pelvic area is causing her a lot of pain but is expected to naturally drain/reabsorb in the coming days/weeks. Cardiologists have decided that she will need heart surgery once things settle down to close the hole in her heart and prevent future strokes.

Update 5/30/2025

I forgot to update, but Amber came home from the hospital 5/22! She has even more follow-ups now; cardiology, neurology, urology, obgyn, hematology, etc. on top of nurses coming to her house. She'll be on the blood thinners for another 2 months and cardiologists are planning to close the PFO in her heart before that. She's been given orders to take it easy for another 6 weeks which, if you know Amber, is hard, but necessary. We're hoping for no more hospital stays and that she can continue healing at home.