A Topeka baby is struggling to breath at KU Med. Her family needs help to see her.

Ellieana Meixueiro lies in a neonatal intensive care unit, hooked up to a CPAP machine that's helped keep her lungs open since she was born prematurely last month at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan.

Her parents, Topekans Abigail Quintero and Isidro Meixueiro, are staying at a Ronald McDonald House nearby with their other child, her 4 1/2-year-old brother, Antonio Meixueiro, who was also born prematurely.

But Isidro Meixueiro must travel back and forth between cities so he can work at his job as a forklift driver at Sam's Club in Topeka.

Meanwhile, the couple don't know how they're going to be able to pay all their expenses, which are rising.

Quintero last month consequently created an "Ellieana and Family Fundraiser" on the GoFundMe website.

Asking for assistance was "a little difficult for us," she acknowledged on that site.

"But as we have been through this before with Antonio and we asked for no help, this will help to fund back and forth trips, groceries, Ronald McDonald stay, KTAG fees, gas, any medical/hospital fees and many other things that could come from this situation," Quintero said on that page. "Thank you all for your love and help."

The family also plans to use some of the donated money to pay its Topeka utility bills, Quintero told The Capital-Journal this week.

She said that while the Ronald McDonald House hasn't asked the family for any money, they hope to be able to make a donation to it to help cover costs of their stay.

Their GoFundMe page had raised $1,000 as of Thursday morning and has a goal of bringing in $5,000. It last received a donation on Dec. 9.

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While baby Ellieana is hooked up to a CPAP machine, her dad Isidro Meixueiro has to work 12- to 16-hour shifts

During her pregnancy, Quintero said, she had severe pre-eclampsia, a hypertensive condition.

"My blood pressure would get increasingly high, I would get easily tired and stress would make my symptoms and condition worse, so a month before she was born I was pulled out of work by my doctor due to concern of seizures," she said.

Ellieana has been on a CPAP machine basically since she was born on Nov. 6, after 28 weeks of pregnancy, Quintero said. The infant's birth weight was one pound, 13 ounces.

Ellieana is doing well but continues to need respiratory help, Quintero said.

For now, Isidro Meixueiro is working 12- to 16-hour shifts on Fridays through Sundays, leaving his family on Thursday nights for his job in Topeka and rejoining them on Monday mornings, Quintero said.

"He may stay longer if he is able to pick up a shift if there are no significant changes to our daughter's health," she said. "But he loses work when he does have to be here for any changes over the weekend."

While older brother Antonio isn't able to join Quintero when she visits Ellieanna in the hospital, Quintero's father, Juan Quintero, came to this area from Arizona and has helped by watching Antonio when Quintero is at the hospital.

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'It really stunts my holiday cheer'

Isidro Meixueiro carried Antonio Meixueiro on his shoulders Tuesday as their family met with a Capital-Journal photographer at the Ronald McDonald House.

Every day, Quintero said, Antonio tells her he misses his home.

Antonio, who was born after 26 weeks of pregnancy, also gets upset about not being able to join his mother as she goes to see his baby sister.

"He already is fascinated and in love with his little sassy sister but we know all of this will certainly cause some anxiety for him and us all," Quintero said on the family's GoFundMe page.

She said her concerns about her daughter's health are made worse by the difficulty her son has had in adjusting to a different environment and routine.

"I worry that if I'm not with her something will happen and I worry if I don't spend time with my son, he will feel I do not pay enough attention to him," Quintero said. "And with it being the holidays and not being able to do our regular Christmas activities and decorating, he asks about where is his Christmas tree and his Christmas presents."

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Quintero said she has tried to make the best of the situation by setting up a small tree in their room, "but with my daughter being at the hospital, it really stunts my holiday cheer because it hurts to not have her here with us."

It appears Quintero and her family will also be unable to celebrate Christmas with her mother, Claudia Mata, who lives in Hays, and Quintero's siblings.

"We aren't home and don't have the money for gas for them to come down, so we possibly won't be able to spend Christmas together," she said. "My son asks a lot about them and asks if they'll be here for Christmas. My mom has always been there for us, even before my son was born, and it's difficult not being able to have her here."

Ellieana could come home to Topeka soon, but not until after Christmas

Fortunately, Quintero said, her family was recently chosen as a "Christmas family" by a Topeka clinic that provides high-risk pregnancy care.

"If it weren't for them, we would not be able to get any gifts this year," she said.

Quintero also feels glad that the end seems to be in sight for her daughter's hospital stay.

She said Elliana will most likely be released from the hospital on Jan. 24, which had been the date she was due to be born.

Quintero and Meixueiro are taking donations to help with expenses on their GoFundMe page at gofundme.com/f/ellieana-and-family-fundraiser.

Contact Tim Hrenchir at 785-213-5934 or threnchir@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Stuck in hospital, baby Ellieana Meixueiro's family needs help