The short story is Genevieve will be having open heart surgery on Monday, February 23rd at Boston Children's Hospital. Her stay is expected to span 7-12 days and recovery at home will be approximately 6 weeks. We’ve created this page to gather support for the wide range of needs, both short and long term. We appreciate you considering any type of support especially checking in on us. We will do our best to provide updates. The long story: Diagnosed on day 3, Genevieve has a moderate Ventricular Septum Defect (VSD) that is impacting her ability to grow and thrive. What this means is that oxygenated blood from one side of her heart is leaking over into the unoxygenated side and then pushed back into her lungs for reoxygenation. Her little body is working harder to move less oxygenated blood to the rest of her body and her lungs are pushing blood that's heavier (oxygenated) thus creating a larger demand on her lungs and heart. At almost four months old she has gained less than 4lbs above her birth weight despite still eating every three hours with breastmilk that is fortified with formula to make it higher in calories. There are a few other risks associated with waiting much longer to address her defect. Initially we hoped she would grow big enough to “out grow” this defect but that has not happened and every day it lingers on her body is fighting off the eventuality of congestive heart failure. She is retaining fluid in her lungs, making it hard to eat, breathe and lay flat comfortably. Due to this fluid, she is already on a diuretic, which puts her at risk for further heart and brain conditions as it impacts the electrolyte balance in her body. Lastly, the first couple of years of life is the time when the most physical growth happens. Continuing to not gain weight puts her at risk for underdevelopment of her bones and muscles and cognitive milestones. Despite these challenges Viva (her nickname) is so very happy! She has recently learned how to roll from her back to her belly going left, and loves when her big brother reads to her after school. She is super chatty with baby babble and loves a good cuddle. How you can help: Viva's surgery will require us to be in Boston. The surgery, while in-network with our insurance will max out our yearly exposure in the thousands. We will be able to put this expense on a payment plan to make it possible to afford this surgery, but the cost alone is daunting to think about. While we are fortunate to have secured housing through Boston Children's at a reduced rate, this cost alone will account for $500-900, plus parking. You can help us with these direct costs by using our Venmo link. The housing we will be in has a full kitchen so we are also seeking assistance with meals or gift cards. Christine is still breastfeeding so one of our priorities is making sure she continues to having nourishing meals and snacks to support milk production and reduce any additional stress related to eating. We have added meal requests to the calendar based on our location or gift cards for restaurants or grub hub/uber eats etc. These will go a long way at taking that stress off. Viva will have a lot of wires and tubes to support her during her stay and will be in need of some different clothing options. When she comes home, she will not be allowed to do tummy time for a few weeks and we will be unable to pick her up under her arms as her ribs heal. These comfort items, along with other supplies to make her and our stays a little more comfortable are in the Amazon Wishlist link below. Any assistance you can provide is appreciated, even if it's just sharing her story or checking in on us throughout the next few months of her recovery. Thank you! The Reyes' Nick, Christine, Michael & Genevieve