Help Amber and Daniel cover expenses for Myles
Hi friends and family. We come to you to seek your prayers and financial support for Amber, Daniel, Hunter, and Baby Boy Hayman. Their needs are substantial.
Some specific things this fundraiser is to cover:
-Medical expenses - this year, the max out of pocket is $2850 for Amber and a second max out of pocket for Baby Boy Hayman for $2850. He is covered under Daniel separate from Amber because they have the same employer. The new year will reset that max out of pocked for an additional $2850 for Baby Boy Hayman. That is the bare minimum that will be required. Any other procedures and or tests that are not covered by the insurance will also need to be covered.
-Housing - housing has been taken care of for the first 5 weeks, however, there is a possibility that housing may need to be arranged for up to 6 months if required to stay in Seattle between surgery 1 and surgery 2. This determination will not be made until Baby Boy Hayman is born.
-Expenses while not on FML and PFML. These programs will cover Amber for 22 weeks, but will only cover Daniel for 12 weeks.
-Expenses at home don’t stop while they are away welcoming their very special little Miracle Boy. Typical living expenses will still need to be covered. Mortgage, car payments, etc.
-Because they will be off work for that extended time, their insurance premiums will switch to Cobra until they can return to full time duty. This alone is costly because they are on separate plans due to having the same employer; they will each need to pay Cobra independently to keep their insurance coverage active. As I’m sure you are all aware, insurance isn’t cheap and they absolutely cannot be without coverage. But at approximately $600 each, that’s approximately $1200 a month for the potential of 6 months. Will be confirming when they will be required to switch to Cobra.
But more importantly than money - Amber and Daniel need your prayers.
Please take a moment and read Amber & Daniels's initial story:
Hi family and friends. Typically around this time of pregnancy is when you announce the gender of your expectant baby. We would like to share that we are having a…… BOY!
With that being said, we think it’s finally time to share some details of our pregnancy journey this far and I’ll get into some more recent things brought to light.
Get your reading glasses ready, this is going to be a long one.
Daniel and I had decided we were ready to try and start adding to our family October of 2020. After a few months of trying - tracking ovulations, periods, and taking several negative tests we finally got our positive test March 21st. We were elated and filled with so much excited as we had been trying SO hard!
It wasn’t until May 4th when I had my first prenatal appointment. They have you pee in a cup to confirm your pregnancy and then just have a short consultation giving us the opportunity to ask any questions. When I went home after my appointment I got an alert from MyChart that my test result had been posted. Upon opening the result it showed pregnancy : negative. Immediately I was scared and panicked wondering what was going on. I called the doctors and was on hold for forever. I remembered I had an extra test, took it and it read positive. I messaged the nurse and after 2 hours of waiting I got a response that the result was positive but was uploaded incorrectly. This was just the first of stressors.
During our first ultrasound we got to see our tiny little rice sized baby. They confirmed a good heartbeat and we set up our next appointments and moved on. Upon our MyChart being updated again after appointment I saw a note that said “predominant nuchal translucency viewed, recommend follow up”. Again, I called the doctor and they had me come back in for another ultrasound. A high ‘Nuchal Translucency’ is commonly a sign of a chromosomal abnormality. After our 2nd ultrasound 1 week later that NT had grown 1mm, we were hoping to see no increase. Leaving the ultrasound we immediately went into an appointment to discuss the findings. The doctor recommended we do genetic testing to try and see if a chromosomal abnormality was present.
We completed the test within a day and it was shipped off to Spokane. A week later on May 28th we got a call with the results.
The results came back negative. We were so thankful and excited to share the good news with family and friends. This is also the time we found out we were having a boy. I was 14 weeks I believe. This is also when we decided it was time to share with Facebook, May 29th.
From May 29th to July 6th we were relieved of the fear and finally enjoying a “normal” pregnancy.
July 6th was my 20 week anatomy ultrasound. We had scheduled this appointment when we were in the middle of genetic testing so it was scheduled with a high risk doctor from Spokane. Upon performing the ultrasound we noticed the tech spending a lot of time surrounding his heart. She ended up running out of time and we didn’t get to do any 3D imaging either. After the ultrasound we waited for 15 minutes for the doctor to come in and discuss the ultrasound. During this wait we had a very weary feeling about it. We were confused on why she would be spending so much time looking at his heart unless something was wrong.
The doctor enters the room and shares that the bones look good, measuring of baby is good, hands/feet are good, but then says there are a few more concerning things to discuss. Immediately I felt like, seriously? Felt like a 100 pound weight was dropped on my shoulders while he continued to talk. He started off with letting us know, the baby has Situs Inverses. This means several of the organs are on the opposite side than usual. He said if this was the only thing it wouldn’t be too concerning but often times is paired with another complication. This is when he paused and said I’m sorry for what I have to tell you guys; (in short he says) in a standard heart you have 4 chambers and it appears the baby only has 3… he explained the functions of the heart and how this complicates things. Also mentioning that we will have future appointments in Seattle with the children’s hospital and will have to schedule delivery in Seattle.
Daniel and I took the rest of the day off work, laid in bed processing. We were so shocked that we had been given the all clear 5-6 weeks prior. We had no clue there was even a risk of complications still.
The following day (Wednesday) I get a call from a nurse with the Children’s Hospital. She tells me they would like to see me/us as soon as possible, Friday July 9th if possible. We make the arrangements and head to Tacoma Thursday night to be in town for our appointment on Friday.
At the 4+ hour appointment Friday we had an hour and a half fetal echo taking over 100 images of his heart. After the echo we sat down with the pediatric cardiologist. He went over the full diagnosis and what it looks like. To shorten things down, after the baby is born within 3-5 days he will have a procedure done. Ideally they will try a stent through his leg into his heart but if the pathway isn’t clear the only other option is open heart surgery. This comes with about a 3 week recovery time.
When the baby is then 3-6 months of age a second open heart surgery would be required, again 3 week recovery time.
When the baby is anywhere from 3-6 years a third and hopefully final open heart surgery would be required, again 3 week recovery time.
The doctor said with the success of surgery our baby boy will have a life like all other children aside from gobs of doctors appointments. He will be active, can hike, be a normal kid, just maybe not be a varsity athlete.
As the medical field is always advancing it is unclear if a transplant would be needed although if necessary this would likely be around the age of 20 or so.
Since we live 3.5 hours away from Seattle and would have to schedule an induction, they are having us relocate to the area at 36 weeks with an induction around 39 weeks. They offer housing at the Ronald McDonald house but due to COVID restrictions no kids are allowed. Daniel and I are both in agreement that we will not be away from Hunter as much as possible. Therefore we will be researching other options of places to stay such as Airbnb. Throughout this process, a fear at the top of the list is our first baby Hunter. He is a routine kid and we are saddened to know this will also take its effects on him as well.
To wrap this up, we know we have an amazing support system that is going to help us with anything we need and are extremely grateful to have that comfort. We have already received blessings that mean more than most know. We are continuing to pray for a miracle and believing that Gods hand is on us and baby boy throughout this entire journey. It hasn’t been and it won’t be easy but we’ve got this.
We are asking for prayer for a few things specifically:
1. We have an amniocentesis coming up that will answer if there is anything else going on that has been missed. Please pray for negative results.
2. Please pray for peace for the remainder of the pregnancy and to have peace in knowing god is in control.
3. Please pray for the doctors and nurses who will be working on our boy, and they provide the best care possible.
4. Please pray for Daniel and I individually and as a couple that we remain strong for each other and with each other.
5. Lastly, please pray for all the doors to open that are needed. We know what those are.
Haymans
Update 8/9/21
Our extended family did a couple of fundraisers and we have been able to raise some funds to help pay for the extended stay (the initial 5 weeks).
Since the original post, we have received an answered prayer that as of today, all tests for number 1 have come back negative. Prayer requests 2-5 still stand and will stand for the long haul.