Olivia Hope Martinez

To say life is fair would be a lie.  Especially when it comes to Taylor & Damian Martinez.  Being together for over twenty years, they’ve created wonderful memories, shared many laughs and have made a beautiful life together.  But they’ve also had to overcome an enormous amount of life’s toughest obstacles, more than anyone should ever have to endure.    Being that life is unfair, another wrench was recently thrown their way.  Taylor & Damian successfully became pregnant for the second time with a procedure of In Vitro Fertilization.  Their first time doing so gave them their greatest joy, their son Austin James.  And this time, we learned they were having a girl!  Taylor & Damian were thrilled and could not be happier.  Up until their 20 Week doctor appointment, which is where they would learn of a condition that only occurs one in every 2,500 babies.  Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia.  CDH occurs when the diaphragm muscle fails to close during prenatal development and the contents from the abdomen (stomach, intestines, liver) migrate into the chest through this hole.  Taylor & Damian were referred to meet with specialists at CHOP, The Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania, where they learned more about this condition and were told Olivia’s case was “severe” and surgery would need to be done once she was born.  Heartbroken, distraught and scared, Taylor & Damian tried to stay positive through the rest of Taylor’s pregnancy and prayed that Olivia’s condition was not as severe as the doctors had been saying. 

But of course, being life is unfair, at a follow-up appointment in March, Taylor learned she had cervical insufficiency and a strong possibility of going into preterm labor as the baby’s due date was not until June 19, 2019.  Taylor was immediately put on bed rest with her last date of work being March 19.  Taylor was admitted to the Hospital twice after being placed on bed rest, spending multiple days and nights at CHOP and was ultimately allowed to be on bed rest back in New Jersey to be home with her son.   April 7, 2019, Taylor’s water broke.   She was brought to St. Barnabas Hospital and would be there until Olivia Hope made her debut, ten long days later.   Olivia Hope was born on April 17, 2019 at 10:48AM measuring 3lbs 5.4oz, 16½” long.   While she was born at a decent weight, Olivia’s CDH condition was still a major concern.  After stabilizing Olivia and monitoring her in the St. Barnabas NICU for a week, her surgery had been scheduled.  Olivia had her first surgery done on April 25, 2019 and the surgical team successfully repositioned Olivia’s organs into place, leaving part of her liver exposed due to the fact that her abdomen was still too small to contain all of the organs.  Olivia recovered greatly from the procedure and was now breathing on her own, without being intubated.  A little over a week later, it was time for Olivia’s second surgery, to ensure her liver was completely inside and to close her incision.  On May 3, 2019, Olivia’s second surgery was complete.  Olivia is still being monitored closely in the NICU and is doing exceptionally well.  Taylor & Damian, after being told the worst news ever, now have more hope than ever.  Not only did Olivia have Right-Sided CDH, she was born nine weeks premature.  Olivia Hope is truly a Miracle.    

 

While Taylor & Damian can breathe a sigh of relief, they also have the stress of medical expenses.  Taylor’s countless nights in the Hospital, PTO days depleted, Olivia’s two surgeries as well as being in the NICU certainly add up to a mountainous sum of money.  Therefore, the family of the Martinez’ kindly ask for your support.  Any amount, large or small, will greatly help and will forever be appreciated.

 

Olivia’s journey is far from over but she has already come so far.  Thank you for your continued love, support and most importantly prayers for Oliva Hope Martinez.