Hi, my name is Tabatha Luscher and I am married and have 3 children. My children's names are Nicole, a 10 year old with autism, Michael, 4, and Alayla, who is in heaven with Jesus. My husband, Chris and I got married on January 8 and I was about 4 months pregnant. We were worried about my blood work which came back as a risk that something was wrong with my baby right before the wedding. However my amniocentesis results came back the day before my wedding and all of the baby's chromosomes where perfect...and we were having a GIRL. We were also told that just because chromosomes were normal did not mean there was nothing wrong with Alayla. We went on to have a great time at our wedding thinking that we were fine if she had problems, she was our baby and we loved her no matter how God made her.
However, I was still going to the perinatologist every 4 weeks and each time we went and got the ultrasound, the Dr. was more and more convinced that something was "wrong" with our Alayla. On February 14, 2011 we got the worst news expectant parents never wants to hear. We were told that our baby, our Alayla, the baby we wanted and loved sooooo much had a "condition that was not compatible with life and would probably survive no more than a few hours IF she made it through delivery."
We were devastated, but what was more devastating was that I was told by at least 3 different people (medical staff) that my best bet was to terminate my pregnancy. I adamantly said NO!!! This is my child still and I wanted her to feel loved for the little time we got to have her. Plus, God brought her into the world; it is his job to decide when to take her back to heaven again.
I was 24 weeks when we got the news and Alayla decided to come into this world early at 34 weeks on 4/22/11 at 4:49 am weight just 2lbs 14oz and 12.25 inches long...she looked perfect and beautiful..she let out a very quiet cry (I did not hear it, which still breaks my heart, but my husband who was filming did hear a faint cry) then she was immediately put on life support as her lungs were so underdeveloped that she couldn't do it on her own.
We got the official diagnosis of osteogenesis imperfecta, perinatal lethal form that night. It is often times called brittle bone disease. However, Alayla had the most severe and deadly type. Essentially she did not have any room in her chest cavity due to extreme curvature of her ribcage and after the heart developed there was no more room for her lungs to develop. Alayla flew to heaven to be with Jesus on 4/23/11 at 11:47pm. For about 43 hours, God's most precious gift was here on earth with me, and then he called her back.
I have tapped out all my resources as well, I pulled $3000.00 out of my 401K and $1000.00 out of our life inusrance cash value before Alayla was born. Chris car needed a new transmission (which we fixed but it stopped working again about 1 month ago), my car needed new tires and new brakes.
We live paycheck to paycheck, and we make too much to qualify for any type of government assistance...I applied anyways just in case, but I was denied. I called and emailed Churches, non profit charities, foundations...you name it, I contacted them, however, no one has been able to help. I spent weeks scouring the internet and on the phone with local programs to help people in the area and it was one dead end after another, it became very discouraging, but I'm not quitting on Alayla.
The money collected will go towards...Funeral expenses, grave marker, medical bills, and if there is money left over then I will donate it to the charity Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep.
Chris took 2 weeks off, however it was unpaid and we were moving into a house at the exact same time (we talked our apartment to let us out of our lease a little early so we could settle into the new house before Alayla was born, but Alayla decided to come 6 weeks early). We have gotten behind on every single utility bill we have by 1 month, this includes car payment, power bill, water bill, trash bill, cable/internet/phone bill. Our hospital bills, after our insurance paid their portion is about $3500.00 by itself(This includes my prenatal care, all my OB visits, all my perinatal visits, hospital charges, Alayla's portion is just for the 2 days she was in the NICU. I'm looking at a grave marker for $1000.00, which is a whole sale website for grave markers since the cemetery wanted $2800.00. The extra $500.00 is in case I missed a medical bill or the grave marker price goes up.
If you cannot afford to make a donation, all I ask for are prayers for my family and I or you could pass this page on to everyone you know and share it on facebook. Anything you can do to help me reach my goal is very much appreciated.
All donations make a difference, no matter how small, thank you everyone in advance for reading my story.
If you have any questions, please ask.
Here is the link to Alayla's obituary: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/timesdispatch/obituary.aspx?n=alayla-luscher&pid=150580528&fhid=4652
Here is a youtube video my sister made for me:
http:/ wmode="opaque"/www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka7GPd7dDJU
http:/ wmode="opaque" wmode="opaque"/www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka7GPd7dDJU
I need financial help desperately. I am in debt almost 50,000. I am a single mother of five amazing children ages 12, 4, 3, 2, and 3 months. My former husband left us almost a year ago, taking all of our money out of our accounts and has given no financial support since. I was a stay at home mother at the time, and when we lost our home, was forced to move out of my home town to live with my mother in a small rural community 75 miles north of the city I had always known. After the strain of trying to help us for six months, I finally found a job at a greatly reduced salary from what I had earned when I was working before my kids were born, and moved from my parents house into my own rental unit. Unfortunately the strain on living so heavily on credit to make ends meet is finally starting to break me.
