Help baby Evie and her Family.

Hello everyone.

I hope this finds you well.

My name is Tishara. On 31st May, I went to the hospital to be induced because they realized my baby had stopped growing at 34 weeks. Roughly 10 hours later, I was rushed into the theatre for an emergency C-section because my temperature was so high and also baby’s heart rate was racing all over the place. 04.11 am Evie was born at 38weeks. But, what was meant to be a magical moment turned out to be a total nightmare. Evie was not breathing; she was resuscitated but still wasn't breathing (they had to put her on oxygen. Honestly, I had never seen so many doctors as I had seen that day. They rushed her out of the theatre and took her straight to the neonatal unit while I lay there hopelessly.

Our Evie was born with Pneumothorax (bilateral), Poor respiratory drive, respiratory acidosis, Critical illness with meconium aspiration syndrome and persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN). Evie’s oxygenated and deoxygenated blood were flowing the same way. Due to her condition, at 10 mins of age, she was actively cooled for 72 hours. The cooling treatment is called Grade 2 hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy with moderate neonatal encephalopathy. After 72 hours of cooling, Evie was not responding to the treatment; she was getting worse. The doctors decided to leave her in the cooler for another 2 days. After 2 days, she still was not responding to treatment. They took Evie out of the cooler to try out a new therapy. This new treatment was too harsh, she was on 96% oxygen, and still, her SATs were dropping. After 48 hours of being out of the cooler, we were called in for a meeting; the doctors told us that a team of specialists from great Ormond street hospital had suggested that Evie’s only chance of surviving might be if she had ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation. They explained all the side effects but were so desperate to save our little Evie we agreed. On 7th June, Evie was transferred to Bristol PICU for ECMO operation. 48 hours at Bristol PICU, she was responding slightly to the treatment. Bristol PICU then transferred us to Leicester, where Evie continued the ECMO treatment. On 16th September, she was taken off the ECMO machine however, the ECMO machine had damaged her heart (this is one of the side effects), and her lungs are severally weak. She now has three big holes in the heart and a few tiny holes; the doctors confirmed that she would need heart surgery. On 19th September, we were transferred back to Derriford, where she continues to receive treatment up to now. Our little Evie has not had a normal life since birth. It is so heartbreaking. On 10th October, we had another meeting; this time, there was some good news, they are planning to discharge Evie. They want us to take her home while she waits for the heart surgery. However, they can not tell us when this will be (we know that she needs surgery, we know her lungs are weak, but no one can give us an exact date. So, I started looking elsewhere so we could go private; we want to save our baby girl. However, the expense is so expensive for us. And also, before she comes home, we need to get a few medical equipments, some of which are not free on the NHS, or there is a long waiting list to get them. My husband and I have stayed by Evie, but this has left us finically drained because he has not been working. We both want to spend as much time as possible with Evie because her condition is unpredictable. We have run out of options now. We are begging for your support, please. We are raising funds to cover medical equipment, treatment and support us with everyday spending. We are asking for your help and support, please and thank you. x