This 55-Day-Old Baby Boy Is Struggling For Every Breath He takes

When I was pregnant, every night before sleeping, I ran my hand over my baby bump and spoke to my child. I asked the child to come soon to meet me. I had always wanted a girl child, a devi in my family. I couldn’t wait for her to enter our lives. I wish I hadn’t prayed for this every single night because God did answer my prayers, but partially - my baby came 3.6 weeks early to meet me but because he was premature and born with a congenital heart defect.

This is one of the most difficult phases of my life. At this moment, my 55-day-old son is alive because of a tube inserted in his heart and the breathing pipes travelling across his chest. These are both temporary fixes to keep him alive. For my baby to live without machines, we’ll have to get a surgery done at the earliest. The difficult part, however, is the unaffordable cost my son’s life is coming at. The treatment cost is coming to a staggering Rs. 27 lakh and even if we put everything we own together, we won’t be able to pay for it ourselves. 

My name is Vidya More. I’m a housewife and my husband works in the water department of BMC. He makes Rs. 6000 every month. Every bit of his salary is used in paying for the cost of medicines and tests. No matter what we do, we won’t be able to gather an amount that high on time. I wanted to share my story before it’s too late.  

You can help Vidya save her baby boy by donating - even the smallest amount would make a huge difference to them. 

My child came into our lives on October 1, 2017. On September 30, when I reached the hospital, the doctors said my baby was ready to be delivered but I would have to shift to a hospital that has the facility of an NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) since it was a premature baby. After jumping three hospitals, we finally arrived at one that had the facilities imperative for my baby’s survival. All this while, I spent every second praying for a healthy baby. The unexpected delivery had left me terrified. At 6.32 pm, after 18 hours of contractions, deep breaths and pushing attempts, my baby was born. 

He was born with an underdeveloped respiratory system, his lungs didn’t function properly. He’s breathing with the support of a ventilator. After receiving care in the NICU, he’s now in the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit). The veins attached to his heart are thin leading to internal bleeding. The doctors want to replace his thin veins with artificial tubes so his heart functions independently. 

  The problems my baby faced were extremely serious in nature and had to be treated immediately. And nothing is more important than my child’s life so we did whatever it takes to keep the treatment going. For each day that my baby spends in the hospital, it costs me Rs. 12,000. So far, we’ve spent Rs. 5 lakh on my child’s health. To gather this amount, we mortgaged my mangalsutra and the jewelry I wore at my wedding and got Rs. 1.5 lakh from it. I’ve borrowed Rs. 3 lakh from different close friends of ours. After exhausting everything, we have absolutely nothing left to continue the treatment and my son’s life is still in danger. I just don’t know what to do. 

Seeing my child go through this hell is painful, not being able to hold his hand through this is even worse. I haven’t held my own baby yet, not even to feed him. He’s fed breast milk through a bottle because he’s too sensitive to anybody’s touch right now.  

I’ve been craving to hold my baby, to see him out of the four walls of the PICU containing it. If I could take all his troubles on myself, I would do it in a heartbeat. I just want to see my baby healthy - he’s been through a lot already. I want to see him without wires and tubes jutting out of his body, hug him and let him know that I’m there for him. Please help me pay for the surgery he requires. 

You can help Vidya save her son’s life by donating to her fundraiser on Ketto here.

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