The Garcia Family was excited and preparing to welcome two beautiful twin girls into their family on September 15, 2016. When mom Cendy went into labor in June, the Garcia family had to shift all of their focus and energy on getting two extremely premature twin girls healthy and strong enough to leave the hospital. At just 28 weeks gestational, Baby Abigail weighed 520 grams at birth, and sister Sophia weighed 1250, so both of these little angels had quite the fight ahead of them to stay alive. “They are our miracle babies by the grace of God,” mom Cendy says, and “God has remained faithful, surrounding us with so many caring and loving people.”
When both babies were initially discharged from the hospital, all was well until Baby Abigail started to take a turn for the worst. She fell extremely ill and has since been re-admitted into Valley Children’s Hospital. Abigail has been diagnosed with Chronic Lung Disease and is on continual oxygen support, and has also undergone Heart Surgery. Due to being on continual life support after Heart Surgery, Abigail slipped into Cardiac Arrest and was luckily revived.
With such a sick little one, and being away from Baby Sophia and two older brothers Josian and Giovanni, it has been extremely hard for Cendy to cope with all that is happening without her family by her side. Cendy states, “It has been a difficult time for our family, but I thank God for Ronald McDonald House’s staff and volunteers because every day we get words of encouragement and support, and we have also gained support and hope from families staying at RMHC that are in similar situations as well. I believe that being a NICU mom is hard and to leave our baby’s site is difficult, but RMHC makes it possible to be closer to our precious princess Abby (as we live in Turlock, about an hour and thirty minutes away). We are uncertain to when [Abby’s] discharge will be, but as of today God has remained faithful to us and a beautiful little girl.”
Families like the Garcia’s are in extreme need of support during these difficult times, and providing a comfortable place to stay is the least we can do. Together, we keep families like The Garcia’s close. Together, they can help their little ones heal.
#KeepingFamiliesClose
