A Blessing with Attitude

Hello all. I am a little out of my realm, but I am asking for some assistance for my son, Christopher, and daughter (in-law), Heather, as we welcome my grandson, Christopher Scott Jr., to the world on Oct 5. I’ll try to be brief but explain some background of my little attitude boy that I wouldn’t trade for the world.

They were married Sept 2021 with dreams for their future of attaining a home and having children. Well, best-laid plans- they found out they were pregnant and then found a fixer-upper home they hoped would be completed before the baby was born (which unfortunately didn’t happen). Heather was sick for about five months of the pregnancy and, on Aug 24, went to the hospital as she’s done monthly for an Rh shot (negative blood type) and ended up not leaving the hospital. Thankfully the nurse noticed something off. Although Heather said she felt fine, she was diagnosed with severe preeclampsia, where her blood pressure was at seizure and stroke levels that could’ve been fatal to both her and the baby. This also resulted in extreme iron deficiency requiring iron transfusions, leading to a staph infection called cellulitis. This woman underwent 43 days in a hospital bed getting steroid shots to help prepare the baby for early delivery, transfusions, antibiotics for infections, poked, prodded, scanned, and so on.

At 34 weeks, Lil man started breach but turned the day the c-section was scheduled, so she went with a natural birth; however, her body was not ready and had to undergo a series of events before induction. Finally induced and gave birth with her husband and mother by her side, my grandson decided he didn’t want to cooperate, so he was rushed to NICU for intubation. His blood pressure and breathing were so off that the NICU recognized they were at a loss, so they air-lifted him to Ruby Memorial, which is almost 3 hours further. My son went with the Lil man, and Heather’s mom stayed with her. You can imagine how distraught they both were.

Christopher Jr has been a fighter throughout all he’s been through. Christopher and Heather are very thankful for the expertise and gentleness of the doctors and nurses caring for their son. They finally held him for the first time one week after he arrived with wires all around, but they didn’t care. I haven’t met my grandson yet, but I hope to real soon and spoil him every day.

So now it comes down to how much this is costing them. Her 43-day stay in the hospital with daily tests, Christopher Jr’s still in NICU after all of the extensive tests and still unsure of his discharge date; they are staying with him every day, so they are not working right now, and the bills are starting to come in. They have insurance, but no insurance is 100%. All of us parents are helping wherever we can, of course, but it’s a lot more than we can do. I’m asking if you can give anything, it would be more than what they have and greatly appreciated. Or maybe donate to the Ronald McDonald house in their name near Ruby Memorial in Morgantown, WV, where they are fortunate enough to be staying. And if your budget will not permit a donation, prayers would be gratifying for both mental and physical health, for the doctors to be able to diagnose and treat whatever is going on with him, and for GOD to bless this family.

Thank you in advance for anything you can provide.