The Seeds Family

Hello everyone, it has been very difficult and humbling to start one of these. The long and short of it is that 2023, and the end of 2022, has been very tough on our family. We unexpectedly had to move back to California due to personal hardship, I lost my dad, Nova was hospitalized and Aaron's job that brought us back here laid him off. He's been out of work since February of 2023 and the job market has been difficult to say the least. Nova is now going on 18 months old and we have another baby on the way due March 5th, 2024. I have been working throughout my entire pregnancy, and as grateful as I am to have another healthy baby, it hasn't come free of its challenges. For those that don't know, I was severely injured giving birth to Nova and I'm still working on recovering from that injury while getting ready to give birth again. That injury has contributed to more physical challenges in this pregnancy, and I'm also being treated for severe anemia.

Despite the challenges of my pregnancy I have worked full time to do my best to help support us while Aaron has been working odd jobs, or just anything he can find. Unfortunately, I have to stop working soon in order to get ready to give birth and ensure I'm not overdoing it. Sadly, I do not receive maternity leave as I'm contracted. My job involves working graveyard shifts teaching and performing for children in Asia, and while I love it, it has become quite difficult for me to maintain in my 3rd trimester.

With that said, with my unpaid leave from work coming up and Aaron being out of work we are very nervous about what the future will hold for us financially. We have very little to no savings and we can't support ourselves on the income Aaron makes, especially with my absence of income. I've had many sleepless nights constantly trying to creative problem solve through our situation, and I always told myself this would be a last resort. Now, here we are.

Basically, for lack of a better term, we're hoping for a financial safety net while I'm unable to work during the time I will be giving birth and recovering from birth. My recovery with Nova was very difficult due to my injury and it's very likely it will be again as I'm still recovering from that injury. Any support given will go toward our cost of living, which includes our rent that's going up in February, postpartum doula care/child care (as I'll be alone with Nova and the baby after I give birth since we can't afford for Aaron not to work), bills, pet care, etc. I do not know when I'll be able to return to work as that will depend on my recovery, and we're praying a job opportunity will work out for Aaron soon, but in the meantime we need to find a way to make ends meet.

Truthfully, I'm struggling with guilt and embarrassment over our gofundme goal, but the reality is that we've been using savings to help pad our income to get us by so we can make rent and our bills, but that savings is now gone. I'm trying to do what I can to ensure that we're okay while I'm not working and while Aaron is looking for work.

Anything helps and we are grateful for any contribution anyone would be willing to give to our family. We're concerned about being able to stay in our home and manage everything, but we're hopeful things will turn around for us soon. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and thank you in advance for any and all support. We do not take it lightly. Happy new year and much love to you all.