Life altering situations for their 2 youngest daughters hit the Aleshire’s hard.
After a perfect pregnancy, Amelia, their first child together, was born with what doctors deemed a traumatic birth injury that led to a blood clot and hydrocephalus that caused low oxygenation and brain damage. The diagnosis warranted brain surgery. At just 20 days old, sweet Amelia was transferred to St. Paul Children’s via helicopter to undergo the surgery in November of 2019.
After a successful third ventriculostomy (an operation to create a small channel in one of the ventricles to allow cerebrospinal fluid to flow freely), she miraculously astonished everyone with her recovery. Amelia has cerebral palsy and stroke like symptoms on her left side, but most would never know it from this thriving, spunky toddler!
When life finally seemed to level out a bit, the Aleshire’s decided to try for another baby.
In June of 2021, at 22 weeks gestation, an ultrasound revealed their baby girl had severe Spina Bifida. With few options available, Tara opted to undergo an in-utero fetoscopy surgery at the Midwest Prenatal Care Center. The procedure would expose her uterus with the baby in it and go through it to repair the L3 myelomeningocele as an attempt to stop the growth and damage of the birth defect.
The surgery, performed on June 29th 2021, was considered a perfect operation, but Tara was still not allowed to go home to Duluth for the remainder of her pregnancy. Everything seemed to be going very well. But tragically and shockingly her 29 weeks ultrasound showed no heartbeat for the baby she now named “June.”
🤍 June Riley Aleshire was delivered stillborn at Allina Hospital on July 28th 2021.
Thank you Aleshires for sharing your story and beautiful family with us.