The Ladybug CDH Foundation was inspired by Finley.
At their 20 week ultrasound appointment on March 31st 2010 (ironically CDH Awareness Day), Liz and her husband Jon were thrilled to get the news that they were having a second girl. That news was quickly overshadowed by the fact that the baby had a pretty serious complication. The baby had a left-sided congenital diaphragmatic hernia (this happens in one in about every 2,500 births) which means the diaphragm didn’t close entirely when it was supposed to and some of the lower organs (in this case; stomach, intestines, and spleen) were growing where they shouldn’t be. As a result, they were told, that the lungs wouldn’t grow to normal size and she was at risk for a laundry list of complications that ended with the statement that she had about a 40-50% chance of survival.
Finley was in the fortunate 50% that survive. It took 19 days for her to stabilize enough for her to have her repair surgery and after 30 days more in the NICU, she was able to come home. Liz started the Foundation to be able to offer the same support that the Dooley family received during their journey. The CDH families that came along side and supported and shared their experiences is what made all the difference. Their friends and community that walked along side them. They felt that everyone should have that same support when experiencing this kind of earth shattering diagnosis.
Because this defect is rare and not heard of by most, it does not have the funding that other more widely known birth defects attract. All money raised by the Ladybug CDH Foundation goes towards research and helping families with a child with CDH in the hospital. Hospital expenses average from $500,000 - $1M+, so some families can be bankrupted by a CDH diagnosis. Many families travel thousands of miles to deliver at a hospital equipped to care for a CDH baby. This means incurring additional expenses of housing, gas, and food daily. Then, imagine those expenses and also having to cover a funeral? Or many of these fortunate children, who do come home, come home needing at-home nursing, oxygen support, feeding tubes, and numerous medicines. We help those families. Your donation helps these families.
Last year, the Ladybug CDH Foundation used funds to give gift cards for food and gas, help for for funeral expenses, gave care packages, and raised $40,000+ that will go towards research hopefully to increase neonatal survival and quality of life.
Every dollar counts. Please give today.
