Help Jess, Craig & kids with their unexpected move

My cousin Jessica, and her family have found themselves in a tough position. In January 2021, Jess, Craig, and their two young sons, Atticus and Edison uprooted their lives and checked into the Children’s Hospital in Vancouver so that Jess could give birth to their baby girl, Aurora, who required major surgery immediately after birth.

From Jess' Facebook:

"We welcomed our beautiful daughter, Aurora Wynter Mary Cedar, into the world on February 8th at 7:10pm. She is a fighter with a tenacious spirit, and has proved that every day since she was born.

Aurora was born with a rare birth defect called Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH). Her diaphragm had a hole in it which allowed the stomach, intestines and bowel to move up into her chest, putting pressure on her heart and "squishing" her lungs, which didn't allow them to grow properly.

They discovered the defect at my routine 19 week ultrasound. When we first heard the diagnosis, it didn't sound good. We were put in a room with a geneticist and some counselors and given some information about CDH and its severity. They were sympathetic and told us that we would be supported if we decided not to go through with the pregnancy. We were devastated, but wanted more answers. Later that day, we met with an amazing Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor at VGH, who gave us some hope. He told us that he reviewed the ultrasound and he believed she could still have a good outcome, depending on a number of factors. They would need to do a bunch more tests to get a better understanding of the severity of her condition. He also said I would need to deliver at BC Women's in Vancouver so we had the best team of experts available to support her. After birth, she would require surgery to move the organs back into the abdomen and repair the hole in the diaphragm.

Over the next few weeks I went through a number of tests, including ultrasounds, blood work, genetic testing, MRI, fetal echocardiogram, and an amniocentesis. Everything came back in her favor; the defect was left sided, there were no genetic conditions involved, and the lung to head ratio was good. We were feeling positive and started making plans to relocate to Vancouver.

At 36 weeks pregnant, we packed up our lives, said goodbye to the island, and arrived at Ronald McDonald House in Vancouver. I had weekly doctor appointments and ultrasounds, so they could closely monitor her. At 40 weeks + 4 days pregnant I was induced. While I was in labor, we noticed that it had started snowing (which is why we chose Wynter as her middle name). 7 hours of labor later, our daughter finally arrived. She was so perfect; a beautiful, pink, healthy-looking newborn. The NICU team took her and intubated her immediately in the same room. There were lots of comments about her full head of hair and what a good size she was at 8lbs, 12oz. We heard them refer to her as "feisty" a lot, which was a good sign.

The first 24 hours of her life were emotional, surreal, and a little overwhelming. She was stabilized quickly after birth, but during the night her blood pressure dropped and she developed a temperature. The amazing NICU team monitored her closely and she quickly became stable again by the next day. 3 days after birth, Aurora had open surgery. Waiting for her to come out of the OR felt like an eternity. After about 6 hours they notified us that everything went well and the surgeons were very impressed with how well she did." 

Along with the major surgery, Aurora battled pneumonia, being intubated twice, as well as other procedures. After 1.5 months of living in hospital, Jess, Craig, Atticus, and Edison brought Aurora home for the first time. Having an extremely at-risk newborn going through major health issues is tough on parents in itself; but with the Covid-19 pandemic, it has been extremely tough on Jess and Craig's family, as they cannot risk Aurora being exposed to such a dangerous and infectious disease.

Jess and Craig have been at home caring for Aurora and their two sons, Atticus and Edison, for the past 6 months. Craig just went back to work recently, and Jess is still home caring for the kids. The house they are renting has gone up for sale, so they are looking for a new home. It will probably cost them around $2,000 more per month than their existing rent payment, plus moving expenses. Jess and Craig are amazing parents and would never ask for monetary help, but anyone who knows them knows that they deserve any help they can get. Any support they receive is greatly appreciated and will be very helpful toward keeping their family safe.