Elora's 'miracle baby' aiming to win Baby of the Year

Elora’s Auston, the babbling baby, is gearing up to hopefully win Baby of the Year in a competition raising money for a non-profit organization to help moms who need financial help to care for their children.

Auston’s mom, Brianne Reinhart, wanted to celebrate her “miracle baby” and share her family’s story so people could relate to it.

Part of her 10-month-old’s story is shared through a profile with photos on the Baby of the Year competition website. The competition is put on by Colossal, which runs competitions to raise money for charities. 

The charity this competition raises money for is Baby2Baby, a nonprofit in the U.S.A. that gives children living in poverty diapers, clothing and other necessities. It also gives supplies to children impacted by natural disasters and emergency situations. For moms it provides maternal health and newborn supply kits to support those who can’t afford the supplies needed for their babies. 

"He's our first, and we really call him our miracle baby, because just over two years ago, I was faced with a cancer diagnosis," said Reinhart. She was diagnosed with a blood cancer called lymphoma. She has celebrated two years of being in remission as of Thanksgiving. When she was diagnosed it was recommended she try in vitro fertilization (IVF) since going through cancer treatment could impact the quality of her eggs.

She went through IVF and after the egg retrieval, the embryos didn’t take and she did not get pregnant. She then went through cancer treatment for over six months. In a discussion with her then fiancé, Luke, she decided not to get back on birth control considering the odds weren’t in her favour to get pregnant anyways after her cancer treatment. They were supposed to get married in October 2023 but postponed the wedding to the following year after learning Reinhart was pregnant in April of that year.

Before she had told her family about her pregnancy she checked with her oncologist first to see if she was in good health to go through with the pregnancy. Once she shared with her family they were happy and shed tears of joy.

“I think they say your body is at the healthiest when you're pregnant, so it was just even more reassuring for me that my dark days were gone. Right, Auston?” she said to him during an interview with EloraFergusToday.

He was born on Dec. 22 last year and his birth was “... a beautiful way to kind of close out a really dark chapter in our lives,” said Reinhart. Auston was the ring bearer at his parents wedding on Oct. 4.

He’s a happy baby who babbles, smiles at himself in the mirror and enjoys his photo being taken. At 10-months-old, Reinhart said he’s in the 90th percentile for his age. He began to crawl at seven-months-old and now is able to lift himself up.

“He's kind of always been ahead of the game, which has been so fun to watch him develop and grow like that. I know every baby is different, but he definitely keeps us both on our toes, especially now he's almost walking,” said Reinhart.

Currently, Auston is in 17th place in the quarter-finals and voting to make it to the semifinals ends Nov. 7. The winner of the finals, is set to be announced Nov. 29, will get $25,000 and be in an ad campaign for Good Housekeeping magazine. To be chosen to enter at the start of the competition Reinhart said judges decided the contestants based on the babies’ biographies and photos. People can have two free votes and have the option to vote by donation. 

No matter if Auston makes it to the finish and is Baby of the Year, “he’s a happy-go-lucky guy, winner or not,” said Reinhart.  

The money would help for the financial hit the family took with IVF and the medication Reinhart took during her cancer journey. The family wants to put aside money for Auston’s future and for when he’s old enough have him try playing sports.

“We've never taken a family vacation as of yet. I mean I know he is only 10 months, but we'd love to reserve a little bit of those funds to do something as a family, just to kind of create some everlasting memories for the three of us,” said Reinhart.

Through family and friends $600 has been raised in the competition for votes for Auston. Reinhart is proud of the money going to Baby2Baby to help other moms that have a similar experience to her or who come from different circumstances.