NewsRadio Savannah and our sponsor The Dewitt Tilton Group introduces you to the Armitage family and their Ronald McDonald House Of The Coastal Empire experience:
When we envisioned bringing a child into our new little family, we imagined a glowing pregnancy and maternity pictures and a picture-perfect nursery. We imagined bringing our daughter home, those sleepless early nights with a newborn, and introducing our little girl to her grandparents and uncles and cousins. Instead, after months of a very difficult pregnancy, I spent 2 weeks in the high risk maternal- fetal medicine section of Memorial hospital, on constant fetal monitoring, while receiving care for my severe preeclampsia and pneumonia. Overnight, our conditions both worsened, and due to my dangerously high blood pressures, a partial placental hemorrhage, and my daughter’s unstable heart readings, my doctors determined that I needed to deliver that day in order for us both to live. Charlotte was born by c-section at 30 weeks gestation, weighing 3 lbs 3.5 oz. Though she was so tiny that she was swallowed by my husband’s hands, she was feisty and alert, and very opinionated. After 89 long, uncertain days in the Memorial NICU, we were finally able to bring our sweet girl home. She had surgery a few days before her release in order to place a gastrostomy tube for supplemental feeding, because although she was 2 weeks past her original due date, she was only able to consistently take about 45% of her feeds by mouth.
Once I was released from the hospital following my c-section, my husband and I were able to stay at the Ronald McDonald House while Charlotte was in the NICU. We were so grateful for a roof over our heads, but it turned out to be so much more. During a time of such uncertainty, the employees and volunteers prioritized our wellbeing, even when we didn’t have the capacity to take care of ourselves. We lived amongst other families whose children were also in some of the scariest situations of their lives, and the bonds we made with these other families made the journey seem just a little less lonely. The local community provided dinners for us, and necessities like snacks and toiletries were readily available. We were just a 4 minute walk from our room in the house to the doors of the NICU, a journey that was made at all hours of the day, as we became familiar with the security guards who would let us into the hospital at 3 am when we just couldn’t wait until morning to see our baby. We are so immensely grateful to the Ronald McDonald House for providing us with shelter, support, love, community, and so much more, in a time when our daughter’s future was so uncertain and we were just along for the ride.
Now, our daughter has just turned 7 months old and has graduated from her gastrostomy tube. She is healthy and thriving, and is on the growth charts for other babies her age for the very first time. She has two teeth now and is as opinionated as ever. We feel so blessed to be her parents, and fortunate that she has gotten to feel so much love from so many people. Without the generosity and support of the Ronald McDonald House and our local community, we would not be where we are today, and we are more grateful than we can even put into words. Thank you.
How to help:
⏰ Accepting monetary donations between Now - December 12th, 2022
📍 Please deliver all cash, check, and gift card donations directly to iHeartMedia Savannah, 245 Alfred Street Savannah, GA 31408
💳Forms of donations accepted:
- Click here to make an online donation to the RMH. Add "Shop With A Cop" in memo.
- Checks made out to Ronald McDonald House with "Shop With A Cop" in memo.
- Visa, Master Card, AmEx or Target cards.
- Cash
Sponsored by The Dewitt Tilton Group!