In May 2020, Maeve’s mom was at her 20-week ultrasound alone due to the pandemic. It was then that she would leave Maeve had a giant omphalocele. This is a large opening with herniated abdominal organs. In September 2020,a week before her scheduled c-section, Maeve’s mom did not feel Maeve move as much and doctors realized Maeve’s heart was skipping every third or fourth heartbeat. At this point doctors decided to perform an emergency c-section. Maeve was born with a fighting spirit and screaming despite having small, undeveloped lungs. After her first week of life, she began to spike fevers that took three weeks to determine it was due to an infection on her omphalocele sac. In November, Maeve was able to enjoy eight days at home before returning to the hospital with a bowel obstruction. Once in the hospital, breathing would become difficult. Maeve would ultimately go into septic shock on December 3 when her bowels leaked bacteria into her bloodstream. Maeve continued to fight obstacle after obstacle, but in January 2021 she was put on ECMO (heart and lung bypass) for nine days.
Since January, Maeve has continued to show her fighting spirit. She works to make small improvements each day. She has cleared her bowel obstruction, she is on full feeds, she has made tremendous improvements with respiratory support, and she had her PICC line removed on her 8-month birthday. Maeve loves to look at her books and enjoys reaching for anything that she can get her hands on. During the month of August, a portion of Legendairy Milk sales will be donated to Maeve’s family to help with ongoing medical care including a specialized chair that will accommodate her belly and ongoing therapy once she is able to be discharged from the hospital. If you would like to donate directly to Maeve’s family, their GoFundMe is linked below: https://gofund.me/8c6c3962