Battle with Gastroschisis; Fight with Baby Eika

Baby Eika Valenzuela Ferrer

#BattleForGastroschisis #FightWithEika

This is Baby Eika, she was born on September 9, 2016 Manila Time via C-section at the University of Santo Tomas Hospital, Manila, Philippines. She has Gastroschisis. She had to be born on a higher facilitated hospital because there is 0% reported survival rate of gastroschisis babies at the hospitals around their hometown in Batangas City, south of Manila.

Gastroschisis is a birth defect of the abdominal wall. Her intestines are stuck outside of her body through a hole beside the belly button. Gastroschisis needs an immediate surgical treatment upon birth. And it requires a series of surgical treatments, the frequency of the surgery depends on the severity of the case. It requires thorough medical attention. She is currently at the NICU of the University of Santo Tomas Hospital, Manila as she had to be isolated to avoid infections and complications, and so that she could have access to a respirator for normal breathing, and TPN for feeding. She is not allowed to have a normal feeding until her bowels are doing well.

Baby Eika underwent her first major surgery on September 9, hours after she was born. Her second major surgery was done on September 19, where the surgeons already placed her intestines inside her tummy. It was a supposed to be a 2-hour operation that last for 6 hours; she was only 10 days old. They did not close the incision on her stomach in order to be able to monitor progress as her body adjusts and if there were any leaks in her intestines. As of time of writing we are still waiting for her third surgery where the surgeons will hopefully close the incision on her tummy. The surgery is tentatively scheduled on the last week of September. This has now been rescheduled twice after Baby Eika contracted a bacterial infection. Her platelets went down so the doctors put her on antibiotics to cure this first as it is not advisable to push through with the operation if her platelets are very low.

Gastroschisis babies have 80% chance of having a normal life if a well medical treatment is given. This baby is a blessing from above. God gives us the opportunity to witness His miracle through this baby. Let us give her a chance to live and to have a normal and happy life. She is strong and fighting. Definitely a little warrior. Let us give her a chance to see how beautiful the world is. Let us show her how loved she is.

Her mom and dad are almost empty handed now because of her mom's pregnancy, medications, CAS, UTZs, checkups, lab tests, and the CS delivery. That is why we are raising funds for this battle. They were asked to prepare 1 million Philippine pesos for her medical expenses.

As of time of writing, Baby Eika's medicines, lab tests and special feeding already reached 200,000 pesos and their running bill at the moment is already about 300,000 pesos. Because of this, we are appealing to your kind hearts for financial help. A small amount will make a huge difference as no matter how small it is, will give her a chance to live the life given by God.

Prayers are powerful. Please say a little prayer for this wonderful child of God. God will just use the doctors, but only Him can give complete healing and full recovery for this baby. We are already declaring that this baby will have a complete healing. And we are beyond blessed to be blessed by your prayers and generosity. We may not say how thankful we are, or give back your kindness right away but God is surely seeing your pure heart and He will surely bless you more than a hundred times.

• You may send your donations by clicking on the "Donate Now" button on the top right of this page.
• You may also send your donations to:

BDO Account 005090174580

Account Name: Jerico Talag Ferrer

Bank Branch: Kumintang Branch

• Or send via money transfer to either of Baby Eika's parents:

Jerico Talag Ferrer

Krister Ann Ferrer

"The greatest blessing in the world is being a blessing to others."

"A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed." Proverbs 11:25

You may contact +63927.270.8033 for further information and updates of Baby Eika's condition. Her mom is also constantly posting updates on her Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/krister.love.jerico.eterna...

Thank you very much and God bless us all.

Blessed Parents: Jerico Talag Ferrer and Krister Ann Valenzuela - Ferrer