Wesley's NICU journey and support for Hannah and Tucker

Hi, my name is Ashley and I met Hannah when she became the nanny to our children many years ago and then was so blessed to have Tucker as part of our lives. Even after they moved away, Hannah and Tucker have remained a constant part of our life and truly are family.

It is such an honor for me to bring together all of the people that love Hannah and Tucker, and even strangers, to rally for them in all of the ways. I want to start off by sharing their story: (shared with permission)

At their 20 week anatomy scan, they discovered that their unborn son, Wesley, has a condition called gastroschisis, meaning that his intestines are on the outside of his body. He will need surgery after birth to put them back in place. The extent of surgery(ies) and post-op needs are pretty unknown until he arrives in late October. Although this was an additional shock for their first pregnancy and transition to parenthood, they have steadfast faith that the Lord is with them and Wesley, and is writing his testimony even now.

Hannah and Tucker live in Boone, NC, where there is not a NICU to meet Wesley's needs, so they are traveling back to Hannah's hometown Knoxville for delivery and care prior to his arrival. They will have him at UT Medical Center and are so grateful to have a medical team capable of providing amazing care. They are taking each day at a time as they know they will be in NICU but won't know for how long and what his needs will be. Each day that comes will be able to give a better indication as to how long their stay is and I promise to update as much as possible.

As one can imagine the financial burden of this journey can be so heavy. Hannah has had to travel two hours each week for many weeks to necessary check-ups on their sweet baby. Tucker, who works at and is a blessing at Samaritan's Purse, will be traveling back and forth to Knoxville and only has a small amount of paid time off. He is doing Kingdom work helping all that were impacted in Boone, NC and other areas by Hurricane Helene.

My goal is to help rally for them so that we can help Tucker be with Hannah and Wesley before he makes his way to the world and whatever the future holds for them after in the NICU. Any financial donations are going to go towards helping to bring him home as long as needed to not be away from his family, gas, medical bills, and any other expenses that they will pay while having a stay in the NICU and Hannah's appointments and hospital stay.

I asked several families who have stayed in the NICU what they needed in their journey and they said that things that really helped them the most were also DoorDash gift cards and healthy snacks so please feel free to contact me directly if you want to help provide this to them and I will be delivering care baskets.

As you all know, giving platforms tend to take a fee when giving to families in need. I am going to leave Hannah's Venmo here if you feel called to donate and have them receive the full amount. Venmo: @hannahchasteen

Hannah and Tucker said "If you could join us in prayer for our sweet little guy, we would be forever grateful. We are praying specifically for a smooth delivery, a single surgery with no complications, a quick recovery, and wisdom as the new parents with this added layer of medical needs"

Psalm 71:5-6

For you, O Lord, are my hope,

my trust, O Lord, from my youth.

Upon you I have leaned from before my birth; you are he who took me from my mother's womb.

My praise is continually of you.

Thank you for taking the time to hear their story. They have navigated all of this with such STRENGTH and FAITH in God. For those that know them, know they would do anything for anyone. Let's help them in every way possible, starting first with an army of prayer warriors and then to help lift the burdens that they will face during this time so they don't have a financial stress. Let's help them be together as a family as long as needed until they can go home together. No matter how big or small the donation they will be grateful in more ways than you'll ever know.

Update 1

Wesley is here!! So much has happened since our original post.

On October 10th Hannah started to feel some pretty strong contractions. She did not anticipate that the time was here as she was 35 weeks and 3 days. The Lord and Wesley had other plans :)

Tucker, still working in Boone, got the call and hit the road. As he was traveling things with labor began to progress quickly. As Queen Suze (Hannah's amazing mom) waited by Hannah's side, Hannah began to work through pretty strong and more frequent contractions.

Tucker arrived and so many intimate details happened in the in-between and Wesley arrived October 11th 2:22am

PRAISES:

-Hannah had him naturally without being induced

-They were able to hold Wesley

-Wesley did not need oxygen and was breathing on his own

Update 2

Hey everyone. Since Wesley decided to make his way to the world in God's perfect timing I'm adding in all updates today as we wanted to wait to share the page until Hannah and Tucker were able to share with their friends and family first.

So much has happened since Wesley's birthday. Each day is filled with so many blessings and so many things that feel hard and heavy. As we continue to provide updates I'm going to share Praises and Prayers. Praises of course being so many things to be thankful for and prayers to lift them up in very intentional ways.

PRAISES

-Wesley had ZERO holes in his intestines which is an answered prayer

-He did not have to have surgery under anesthesia. The amazing medical staff at UT have been doing what are called reductions. This is a complex procedure that's a lot to explain but in summary each day they are able to use gravity to slowly move the intestines in. Wesley has had several reductions since his birth and is handling them so well. Now the next step is umbilical closure tomorrow

-Hannah is healing well and pumping milk like a rockstar. Right now Wesley has been able to have colostrum. Once his feeding journey begins Hannah has a supply waiting for him

-Tucker has some time off to be together as a family and they have so much love and support from family and friends

-So much praise for the medical team at UT

PRAYERS

-Please continue to pray for the hearts of Hannah and Tucker. They have not been able to hold Wesley since birth and are not sure when they will be able to. It's a very hard thing to want nothing more than to hold your baby.

-Pray that Wesley's umbilical closure tomorrow will be successful with no complications.

-Continued prayers for Wesley's strength and comfort. He is a WARRIOR

-Prayers for continued rest for Hannah and Tucker

-Prayers for the medical team to continue to use their skills and talents to help the Chasteen's as they navigate this each day to come.

Things that would be so helpful to Hannah and Tucker right now would be healthy meals and snacks. Snacks especially as they spend the majority of their time with their sweet baby boy in the NICU. Financial donations will be used to gas for the back and forth, medical bills, meals and to help keep Tucker with his family as long as possible and to not feel any financial stressors.

Most of all keep praying for Wesley, Hannah and Tucker. They feel everyone's prayers and are so grateful. He is the GOD of miracles and he hears our ARMY praying so loud for them!