Isabella's Facebook Page Please view and share this page to see Bella's progress.

On 30th August, Isabella Wilkinson was born via and emergency C-section, premature at 34 weeks with Gastroschisis - a rare condition (1 in 5,000 births) where the abdominal wall didn't close properly, leaving the intestines to develop outside of her body.

We found out about this at 20 weeks during the gender / fetal anomaly scan and had the rest of the pregnancy to research and prepare what we could. However Gastroschisis cases vary and the severity can only be determined upon delivery so regardless of how much we read up about it, we were still in for a shock when Bella was born.

Upon Bella's early arrival (premature at 34 weeks due to her intestines being dilated in her mummy’s belly), her doctors told us that Bella's case was more severe, and a rare one at that, with the odds of this outcome being around 1 in 8 Million.

Normal cases only involve a simple surgical procedure to return the intestines and sometimes organs inside the stomach. However Bella's case was way more complicated as it involved both her large and small intestine being COMPLETELY SEPARATED - a huge portion of her large intestine did not develop. This means that there is no way for her to pass stool the right way and to correct this, she had to have a colostomy to be able to pass stool through the end of her small intestine that's drawn out through a hole in her abdominal wall.

Aside from the possibility of living with a colostomy bag forever, this can also mean that Isabella will have problems digesting properly, absorbing nutrition and gaining weight.

Bella’s colostomy bag in the picture above.

Bella has already been through 2 major surgeries in just a week of being in this world - 1st one was a failed attempt to put all her intestines back in a few hours after birth; the 2nd one was 7 days later to try again for closure and to also put the needed colostomy, which were both successful.

Despite already going through so much, the fight doesn't end there. The doctors informed us that additional surgery will be necessary for a possible reconnection of her intestines, given of course that both separate parts are still functional. This means that there is still hope for Isabella to live a normal life without a colostomy bag.

However, there is also a possibility for further obstructions in her intestines and in this case, she will need the 3rd surgery for removal of the obstructed parts.

As of today, after 29 excruciatingly long days, 2 surgeries, 2 blood transfusions, about a hundred needle pricks, 8 x-rays and tons of medication and Bella’s still unable to go home with her parents. The next step is to try and feed her and dependent on how this goes will determine how many more weeks Bella will remain in the NICU.

We are raising money for Bella's medical and surgical bills that unfortunately aren't covered by insurance. We have already put all our savings into her hospital bill, made a progressive payment of $19,000+ so far. We will continue to put in all of our monthly salaries to bring down the costs but with a continuous daily growing bill and no discharge date in sight, we are looking to raise the target amount to reduce what we hope will be a large portion of the outstanding balance.

We will be truly grateful for any support of any size and equally appreciative of a simple share of this amongst your friends and family. All this is for an incredible little girl that’s fighting for her life.

Thank you for your kindness, love and support.

To date, the cause for Gastroschisis is still unknown so we will document and share Bella's journey on her Facebook page to help improve awareness and support for this condition.

Keep up with Isabella Wilkinson at:

Facebook.com/girlsgotguts