Baby Emory, A Tiny Miracle.

Emory was born 4/26/19 at 36 weeks and 2 days weighing 3 lbs 4 oz, with a due date of 5/22/19. She was taken immediately to the ISCU at Northshore Evanston (Infant Special Care Unit, aka Nicu at other hospitals). 
At 20 weeks we were told baby was very small and we had low amniotic fluid.  We were sent to maternal fetal medicine at Northshore Evanston and diagnosed with IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction, baby does not grow to normal rate during pregnancy), oligohydramnios (deficiency of amniotic fluid), and a chromosomal abnormality; Pmp22 deletion.  
We were counseled on our options and told that terminating would be a reasonable decision as baby would  likely be stillborn even if we made it further along in pregnancy due to the combination and severity of issues so early on in pregnancy. 
Emory was already our miracle.  We conceived her naturally after multiple failed fertility treatments and years of trying to conceive.  We decided to give her every chance to fight.
We continued weekly Drs visits and then twice weekly Drs visits from 28 weeks on to monitor during the high risk pregnancy. 
We had low and even no fluid for about 2 months of pregnancy but began to show as low normal range after that point.  Emory continued to be very small for her gestational age but grew little by little. 
On 4/26 I went for my monitoring appointment and my fluid was gone and Emory only grew 1 oz during the 2 weeks period and I had also developed hypertension. We had an emergency c-section that day. 
Emory is a beautiful little girl and we are so grateful that the Drs were wrong when they cautioned us on the worst case scenarios, but she remains in the ISCU as there are certain requirements she needs to meet before she can leave.  The biggest hurdle she still faces is learning to eat by bottle.  She is being tube fed and is struggling to gain weight. Drs estimate it may be July before she is eating exclusively by the bottle as she is so small. 
Medical bills from pregnancy total $5000. This does not include the last month of pregnancy appointments or delivery.   We also have not yet received a bill for Emory’s ISCU stay.
Due to complications during the pregnancy, I missed several days of work.  My husband also lost his job March 1st and was not employed for two months so we have been squeezing by on a significantly lower income.  
As the medical bills continue to come in, our concern is to be able to pay our house payment, electricity, gas and food, and to bring Emory home! 
We have went back and forth about whether or not to put our financial struggles out there, but the time has come to ask for help.  
The reality is any amount will help, even if it’s us not worrying about getting gas to go and see Emory at the hospital.