We Met Our Goal!! (GoFundMe Update6)

Good news! We've reached our fundraising goal and even surpassed it a bit, at a final amount of $5,114 given. THANK YOU!


This last donation of $1,000 took us completely by surprise. It is with tremendous feelings of gratitude and love that we close our GoFundMe campaign for medical costs.

*deep breath*

I wonder what the future holds for us. Thanks to the generosity of all of you, it doesn't hold copious amounts of medical debt. In the interim, we have armed ourselves with catastrophic insurance so financial ruin won't be as much of a threat in future troubles.

They say the only constant is change. This feels like an understatement after the Year of Abigail Réileen. So much has changed. Most of all, we have changed. In light of the gifts we have been so graciously given in our time of need, we go forward with faith in God, faith in our fellow man, and optimism for the unknown future.

See you around! May God bless and keep you in His loving hands.

Miracles are still happening! (GoFundMe Update1)

Our hearts are full today. We are so thankful for the outpouring of support we have received from our friends, from our family, and from strangers. We love you and are grateful you've decided to become part of our story.

We have been so inspired to see Abigail's story shared via Mike Crockett's beautiful video about her short and important life. It has been viewed now thousands of times! I am simply blown away by the tender comments, the promises of prayers, and the kindness of strangers. I know Abigail and angel babies with similar conditions have power in their stories -- power to inspire us to love more deeply and more truly, power to change the heart of a mother wrestling with the decision to continue her complicated pregnancy, power to remind parents to hug their little ones a little tighter tonight. We hope Abigail's bright light has made your life better in some way. We are so grateful to all who shared her story.

We have been praying for a solution to our financial problems, whether it happened through GoFundMe or some combination of factors. Well, we have really good news! Our medical bills just got lower, like, by a lot!

The total we now need is $5, 071.98! We are already over halfway there! Here is the breakdown, for the sake of transparency:

$2488.43 Last hospital bill (This is a huge difference from what it was! You should have seen Bill's face! You guys, we can't even express how grateful we are the hospital changed this patient responsibility amount.)
$2235.00 Katrina's postpartum root canal
$242.55 Child's ER visit for rollerblading accident
$106.00 Katrina's postpartum clinic visit to diagnose vasovagal syncope

We've changed our goal amount to reflect these huge reversals in our medical debt situation.

The best good that has come out of this fundraising experience already has been the treasured opportunity of sharing Abigail with the world. She's out there now for people to get to know on their own time, even beyond the urgency of a GoFundMe campaign.

Yesterday our family went to visit Abigail's grave with roses and lilies. I brought with me the first rose that grew on the Angel Face rose bush in Abigail's memorial garden in our front yard, a plant that Mike and Heather Crockett gave us at her funeral. Seeing that little angel statue, which represents Abigail to our young family, as she held that Angel Face rose, I felt a sense of completeness. The rose bush already has more buds getting ready to bloom and all of the things Abigail set in motion by her birth will continue growing and traveling, all the flowers and all the love. I'm grateful to have been part of this. I feel we have made Abigail happy. I know she is near, looking after her brothers who, heaven knows, need looking after. Thanks for being part of our journey to completion.

Please share this fundraising link with anyone who can help us reach our new, easier goal and also with the people your heart tells you need more Abigail in their lives. Thank you!!!

GoFundMe: https://gf.me/u/x7ftk4

A Fundraiser for Our Medical Expenses

We never imagined our beautiful daughter would come to us in this way. After being in discussion with the hospital financial aid office, we now know what our final costs are for Abigail's birth via C-section and her one day of round-the-clock NICU care, as well as my ICU stay for one day.

It's big. It's bigger than what we can do by ourselves, so we are asking for help.

Please share our GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/baby-abigail-changed-us-forever

When you share, you are doing two things. First, you're helping us to share this beautiful video put together by Mike Crockett that tells Abigail's story, how she spent one day with us, yet changed us forever. Second, you're helping us with a very real and pressing financial need.

Thank you for sharing and for your generosity. We know we can never pay everyone back for the help we have received and continue to receive. But we do believe in paying it forward. 

We have endeavored to be the kind of people who serve in church and community, help people move, and give to GoFundMe and Facebook fundraisers when people have the courage to ask for help. It does feel strange to be so much on the receiving end lately, but we know we must be realistic about our needs and not try to do it all on our own. We also, as I mentioned first, very much hope and believe that this GoFundMe fundraiser can be a vehicle for spreading Abigail's story and influence even more widely. God's will be done.

We love you and thank you for your love and support!

P.S. If you are uncomfortable donating through the GoFundMe website, you can donate via Venmo: @Katrina-Lantz-1