Help Support Baby Joey and the Walter Family â¤ď¸
My dear friends Megan and Tate are facing something no parent ever expectsâtheir sweet baby boy, Joey, is currently in the NICU with significant medical challenges that will require a lengthy hospital stay and ongoing lifelong medical care (See Megan's description of sweet Joey's Story below)
With three children at home, Megan and Tate are carrying the emotional and financial weight of caring for Joey while navigating the many unexpected expenses that come with a NICU stay. Megan, a former NICU nurse and current lactation consultant, has spent her life caring for and supporting other families. Now, itâs their family who needs that same love and support.
Donations will help ease the burden of Joeyâs medical expenses and other unexpected costs, allowing Megan and Tate to focus on what matters mostâbeing there for their sweet boy.
If youâre able to give, any amount truly makes a difference. If you canât donate, sharing this fundraiser and keeping Joey and the Walter family in your thoughts and prayers means so much. Thank you for helping surround this family with love during this difficult seasonâ¤ď¸
Story below Written by Megan telling Joey's Story:
When I was about 20 weeks pregnant with Joey, an ultrasound showed that he only had one kidney. At first, this wasnât a huge concern. Many people live long, healthy lives with just one kidney. But as my pregnancy progressed, it became clear that Joeyâs kidney and urinary system were much more complicated than we initially hoped.
By my third trimester, his kidney appeared increasingly abnormal, and I was having weekly ultrasounds to monitor his kidney and amniotic fluid, along with frequent testing to make sure he was still growing and thriving. It was an incredibly stressful way to spend the second half of pregnancy, constantly waiting for the next ultrasound, the next test, and the next piece of information about what life might look like for our baby.
At 37 weeks, testing showed that Joey was no longer tolerating the pregnancy well, and my care team recommended induction. Joey was born on August 6, 2026 at 4:47 p.m.
We were incredibly grateful that he was able to spend his first several hours with us, but about 12 hours after birth, he was transferred to the NICU. He needed a Foley catheter to continuously drain his bladder, IV fluids, frequent bloodwork, and very close monitoring of his kidney function and urine output.
We soon learned that Joey was born with posterior urethral valves, which created an obstruction that caused severe damage to his urinary system before he was even born. He has severe hydronephrosis, grade V kidney reflux, and significant changes to his bladder from having to work so hard against that obstruction. Because he has only one kidney, protecting the function he has left is incredibly important.
The NICU has been hard on all of us. Every day I feel split in half between being with Joey at the hospital and being home with our other three kids, who still need their mom. Tate is carrying that same weight while trying to work and keep everything else moving. We have an amazing village helping us, but there is no easy way to divide yourself between four children when one of them is in the NICU.
And while we desperately want Joey home, coming home will not mean that this is over. The hard part will simply change shape.
For the first weeks to months of his life, we will need to catheterize Joey with every feeding to make sure his bladder empties completely and protect his kidney from further damage. He will need medications every day, frequent bloodwork, repeated kidney ultrasounds, and very close follow-up with nephrology and urology. How much care he needs will depend on how his kidney and bladder respond over time, and additional procedures and surgeries are expected throughout his first year and beyond.
The reality we are still learning how to hold is that Joey will very likely need a kidney transplant at some point in his life. Right now, no one can tell us when. Our goal, and the goal of his medical team, is to protect his kidney and preserve its function for as long as we possibly can. The longer his own kidney can carry him, the better his long-term outlook.
So while this NICU stay has brought an enormous amount of stress, heartbreak, time away from our other children, missed work, and unexpected financial strain, this is only the beginning of Joeyâs story.
We have a long road ahead of us. There will be appointments, labs, procedures, surgeries, medications, catheterizations, and a lot of uncertainty. But there will also be an incredible little boy in the middle of all of it, one who is already so deeply loved and has shown us just how strong he is.
Through all of this, we are leaning heavily on our faith and on the incredible community surrounding our family. We are so deeply grateful for every prayer, meal, message, helping hand, donation, and person who has loved and supported us and our children through this. We truly could not carry all of this alone.
Our life looks very different than we imagined it would a few months ago. Right now, we are taking things one day at a time, trusting God with the parts we cannot control, and doing everything we can to give Joey the very best chance at a long, healthy life while continuing to love and care for all four of our children.
