Keoni Longdon

On December 07, 2022, I found out that i had HELLP Syndrome & had to deliver at 30 weeks & 5 days gestation. At 26 week pregnant, i started to feel extremely off. I started to become very tired, had pain in my right side at my ribs, & i started to struggle to take in a deep breath. When i would contact my doctors, all i was told was "it did not sound like i was in preterm labor & to take a bath, take Tylenol, & use icy hot. For weeks i continued to use those tools to get through the days. The night before i delivered, (December 6, 2022) I had gone out to eat & even went & got a 4D/HD ultrasound of my little one for my birthday. When we got home, I had decided that I was going to try & sleep on the recliner to get some relief & hopefully get comfortable. At around 2:30AM, I was woken up from the pain in my ribs & nearly gasping for air. I went to the bathroom & immediately started a bath & got in to get comfortable. My husband came in at around 4:30AM to check on me before he left for work, at this point I had reached my limit, he encouraged me to go to the hospital in which i continuously declined because I did not want to be told that I was fine & nothing was wrong. After a long discussion, we decided to go to AHN Wexford instead of my delivering hospital for a second opinion. Within an hour, they had discovered that I had HELLP Syndrome & I needed to deliver immediately. They transferred me down to West Penn Hospital to deliver. I had arrived at the hospital at 11:00AM & went in to have an emergency C-Section. By 11:30AM, my daughter was born weighing 2lbs 14oz & we had a long road ahead of us. After 56 days in West Penn NICU, my family finally was together under one roof. I will fight every single day for as long as i live to make families like ours heard. I believe that every mom & baby deserve a voice. I want to fight for my family & those who dont have that voice to fight. I stand with the moms who went through what I went through, the moms who didnt have the chance to leave the hospital with their babies, the babies who left the hospitals without their moms. Every single family. 

I joined the movement to create positive change for moms and babies everywhere, especially those most at risk. 

With preterm birth and maternal death rates continuing to rise, I’m committed to raising funds so that every family gets the best possible start. But I need your help. 

Please visit my fundraising page to make a donation. Together we’ll be part of a movement to make America a more equitable place and ensure that every mom and baby is healthy.