My daughter Samantha and her husband found out at their gender scan that their unborn baby had spina bifida. She is 23 weeks pregnant and works full-time outside of the home. She will be having in utero surgery at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital on August 27th. She will spend between 2 and 5 days in the hospital and will be on bed rest until baby Gabriel is born, not being able to earn an income.

When baby Gabriel is born, he will spend at least two weeks in the NICU, since most babies that have this surgery are born early between 34-36 weeks of pregnancy. They will incur numerous medical expenses during this time while not having one of their incomes.

Update on Sammie and Gabriel.

Since surgery Gabe has been a happy baby. He is kicking and his heart rate is always where it should be. Sonograms have shown that he is growing and everything looks good at this time. Sammie is still in pain but is doing better. She keeps getting a shooting pain in her right side but the doctors have assured us that this is very common after this surgery. We have appointments 1-2 times a week at Cincinnati Children’s Fetal Care Center to monitor Gabe and mom. Thank you everyone for all the support whether it’s financial, bringing us meals, or words of support, we truly appreciate it all. Special thanks to our parents for being here and helping us every step of the way. Please keep praying that mom and Gabe both heal and that he grows healthier and stronger each day. Thanks so much!