Rowan Harper Anthony

This is my baby sister Maddie. She is young and vibrant and full of love and life. Every since the first grade all Maddie has ever wanted was to be a mommy. Maddie was lucky enough to find and marry her soulmate, Justin, last year. And just like all young people in love, they decided to make a baby. Tears of joy and excitement fell on our family when the news finally came that she was going to have a sweet baby girl. What we were not prepared for is when Maddie and Justin went to their first ultrasound and the technician found a tumor on the baby's spine. This specific tumor only occurs in 1 in 30,000 infants. It is called sacrococcygeal teratoma. The tumor is half in the body and half out and is the same size as the baby's head. Maddie and Justin were devastated but surprisingly even after given the odds remain so positive. Maddie is 6 1/2 months pregnant and instead of wondering whose eyes the baby will have or if she will have her dimples, now she simply prays that her baby will live and be healthy. There is a risk that the baby will have heart failure and it would have a mirror effect and cause Maddie to immediately go into heart failure as well. She and the baby have to be closely monitored to ensure the tumor doesn't grow too rapidly. Immediately upon birth the baby will have to have surgery to remove the tumor. Depending on what it is attached to there may be several surgeries. Not out of denial, but in belief, Maddie along with her family, believe that this baby, our baby Rowan is going to survive this and live an amazing life. The doctors say the she has a strong heart beat and the tumor has not grown in at least the last 3 weeks. This gives us hope. The sad thing is that our world does not recognize the obstacles that we have to overcome in life and where we should be able to just have this time to prepare and focus on health and family, we still have to maintain our mortgages and other bills. Maddie and Justin are going to have to miss work and make several trips a week to seek the medical attention they need. I only ask for your donations to help them not worry so much about the worldly demands, but to focus on their baby and bringing her into this world with a full recovery. If you could only meet my sister you would know just how worthy she is. How beautiful inside and out. As an older sister who she generally would come to ask for advise, I find myself speechless. This is the only way I know how to help her other than loving and supporting her. With a humble and gracious heart I thank you.