Baby Gianna is a miracle upon miracles. Gianna is the beloved first baby of Grant and Debbie, and our first grandchild. From the moment she was born, she has been fighting a battle most of us can hardly imagine.

Gianna was born with three holes in her heart and an extremely rare condition that affects her heart. We have been told she is one of only six ever discovered with this condition.

On day eight of her life, after a tachycardia event, Gianna was placed on ECMO, a life-saving heart and lung support machine. She was without a heartbeat and supported by ECMO for almost 24 hours. After eight days, by the grace of God and the skill of her medical team, she was successfully brought off ECMO.

She has spent the majority of her small life on a ventilator. She has endured multiple open-heart surgeries, multiple infections, multiple tachycardia events, and procedures to close the holes in her heart. Again and again, Gianna has overcome the impossible.

At first, her doctors at the children’s hospital in Portland reached out to several hospitals on the West Coast that specialize in cardiac care for infants and children. Gianna was initially not accepted because she had critical thresholds she needed to meet. We were told she may not be accepted until she was a year old and much larger, and that she may need a heart transplant.

Then, after about a month in Portland, we got the call we had been praying for: Stanford had accepted Gianna into their program in Palo Alto. Because of her fragile condition, Grant and Debbie had only a couple of hours to prepare before Gianna was medevaced to Stanford.

To be accepted, Gianna had to meet major thresholds, including coming off ECMO, coming off the ventilator, and stabilizing on a life-saving medication. She met them. She made the flight. And she has continued to fight with everything in her tiny body.

There are good things happening, and we are so grateful. But Gianna still has a very long road ahead. This journey has been incredibly hard on Grant and Debbie. All they want is to be with their baby. Debbie has been the strongest and most devoted mother. Since Gianna was born, she has pumped every three hours and frozen her milk so Gianna could have the best nutrition possible when she was finally able to receive milk.

Grant has to return to work, and it is breaking his heart that he cannot be at the hospital with his fragile daughter. No parent should have to choose between keeping life moving financially and being beside their critically ill child.

We are asking for help so Grant and Debbie can continue to stay close to Gianna at Stanford. Donations will help with travel, lodging, meals, parking, time away from work, medical-related expenses, and the long, uncertain road ahead.

If you are able to donate, any amount will help. If you are not able to give, please share this fundraiser and continue praying for Gianna.

So many miracles have already happened. So many people have prayed for this baby. Gianna has fought through more in a few months than most people face in a lifetime, and she is still fighting.

Thank you for supporting Gianna, Grant, and Debbie as they continue this heart journey.