Blog
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Half a Heart, A Whole Lot of Fatherly Love
Three open heart surgeries and no cure. That was the uncertain future surrounding our son Theo’s life expectancy. In March 2020, the Fetal Heart Center at Children’s Health Dallas determined Theo had Tricuspid Atresia and Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome, meaning he would be born with only half a heart. My wife Brooke and I were…
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Stay-at-Home Dad Rides the CHD Rollercoaster with Rainbow Baby
Today, at two years old, my son Emerson is a mostly typical toddler. He wakes up each day in good spirits. His scars, his need for occasional medication, and certain limitations serve as reminders of his medical journey. And what a journey it’s been. Our rollercoaster began with devastating news during Emerson’s 20-week anatomy ultrasound….
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Conquering CHD Community: A Lifeline for Parents Ryan and Jillian
Who do you turn to when you find out your happy and seemingly healthy two-month-old needs heart surgery? At our two-month well visit, my wife Jillian and I were stunned to hear our daughter Beckett needed to see a pediatric cardiologist. They’d found a heart murmur, and we soon learned Beckett was born with a…
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Peyton’s Parents Give Hope to CHD Community
In her 12 days of life, Peyton Rae Brean showed her parents, Lisa and Corey Brean, spunk, sass, love, and strength. Her personality radiated inside the NICU, and her parents cherished every moment spent inside those four walls. “I read somewhere once that ‘instead of teaching my daughter about the world, I would have to…
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Clark Ostrom
Clark Ostrom was born in 2015 at just 36 weeks. His mom, Carissa Ostrom, said they had no idea he had a bicuspid Aortic Valve and Aortic Stenosi heart defect. He went through his first procedure and balloon valvuloplasty (a cath procedure where they take a balloon and rip open the valve). Carissa then connected…
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Eli Pingilley
In early November 2021, we went to our kids’ annual checkup appointments, and Eli had very elevated blood pressure. The nurses would not record it on his growth sheet. Instead, they sent in several nurses with several different blood pressure cuffs to check him. Praise God his pediatrician didn’t ignore this and let it go….
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Hudson Heyward
Hudson was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and spent more than 176 days inpatient. Now home with his family, Hudson’s first Christmas is sure to be extra special. Read about his battle with HLHS and how beauty can be found even in terrible circumstances. Hudson was 9 days old when he was diagnosed with…
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Our Beautiful Boy – JT’s Story
My husband, Michael, and I had been trying to have a baby for over three years (through gestational surrogacy), and after several failed attempts and a miscarriage, we finally made it to the second trimester! When Michael, Michelle (our surrogate), and I attended the 20-week anatomy scan, we were shocked to find out that our…
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Camila
Camila nació el 5 de octubre del 2018. Seis días antes de que naciera, fue diagnosticada con estenosis de la válvula pulmonar y comunicación interauricular. La noticia nos tomó a todos por sorpresa. En ese momento estábamos viviendo en California en el Área de la Bahía y cuando Camila nació fue inmediatamente transferida al hospital de niños Benioff en…
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The Foligno Family
“We don’t look at the world with rose-colored glasses, but we are optimists through and through. We believe in turning obstacles into opportunity, that forward is a mindset, and that there are tools to help us at any place you find yourself on life’s journey.”