Meet Caroline

Caroline came into this world on November 12, 2024, 16 weeks before we were supposed to meet her. Weighing in at 1 pound 5 ounces. 

Instead of bringing our baby home, we walked into the NICU. And we stayed there for 300 days. There were days when our entire world existed inside the walls of her hospital room.

After battling Meningitis twice and underdeveloped lungs, there were also miracles happening there. Tiny ones at first:

Opening her eyes.
Holding our fingers.
Growing another ounce.
Coming off another machine.
Being held after we had waited so long to hold her.

And eventually, the miracle we had prayed for through 300 very long days:

We brought our girl home. But Caroline's story didn't end when we left the NICU.

In many ways, a whole new chapter began. Today, Caroline continues to face significant medical and developmental challenges. Our weeks are filled with therapies, specialists, appointments, equipment, and finding every possible opportunity to help her reach her fullest potential.

She works incredibly hard for milestones most families never have to think twice about. And she has taught us to celebrate every single one. A hand reaching toward something. A stronger head lift. A few more seconds sitting. A new sound. A better therapy session. Something that might look small to the rest of the world can feel absolutely enormous in ours. Because with Caroline, nothing is “just” a milestone. It's another reminder of how far she's come.

Somewhere along the way, Caroline's story became bigger than just our family. People began praying for her, cheering for her, following her progress, celebrating her victories and showing up for us during some of the hardest moments of our lives.

Team Caroline was born from that community.

This shop is one more way to be part of it. When you wear Team Caroline, you're wearing more than a shirt. You're representing a little girl who has spent her entire life defying expectations. You're supporting her continued therapies, treatments and opportunities that we believe can help her keep moving forward. We don't know exactly what Caroline's story will look like years from now. But we know we're going to keep giving her every opportunity we possibly can. We'll keep showing up. We'll keep believing. We'll keep celebrating the inches.

And we'll keep letting Caroline show us exactly what she's capable of.

Thank you for believing in her. And thank you for being part of Team Caroline.

Team Caroline started with one little girl, but our hope is that it becomes something much bigger. Caroline’s journey has taught us that sometimes the things that can make the greatest difference in a child’s life are also the things families are left to fight for, travel for, and pay for themselves.

There are therapies we believe can help Caroline continue building strength and reaching new milestones. There is adaptive equipment that can give her greater access to the world around her. There are intensive therapy programs and other opportunities we want to pursue for her. And we plan to continue pursuing stem cell treatments as part of the path we have chosen for Caroline.

That is why we created Team Caroline.

Proceeds from this shop will help our family fund Caroline’s ongoing needs, including:

• Stem cell treatments and related travel
• Intensive and ongoing therapies
• Adaptive and specialized equipment
• Other opportunities that can help Caroline grow, participate and experience more independence

But we don't want this mission to stop with Caroline. We know what it feels like to want something for your child that could improve their quality of life—and then discover that insurance won't cover it. We know what it feels like to look at the cost of therapy, equipment or treatment and wonder how you're going to make it happen. As Team Caroline grows, our dream is to be able to give back to other children and families walking similar roads.

We want a portion of what this community builds to eventually help another child get the piece of equipment they need, help a family afford therapy, contribute toward treatment, or simply take one financial burden off parents who are already carrying so much.

It's about believing that every child deserves the opportunity to reach their fullest potential—even when insurance says no.

And someday, we hope a family we may never have met gets to say yes to something their child needs because Team Caroline showed up.

Wear the shirt. Join the team. Help us create opportunities—first for Caroline, and eventually for children like her.