3 Years Post VSD Repair

Today marks 3 years since I handed my tiny baby boy to the anesthesiologist. I will forever remember walking down the hallway and crying the whole way back. This is a short and happy post because his Congenital Heart Defect was detected while we were still in the hospital and as you can see, he’s perfect now! My baby is a fighter and he’s my first little miracle boy! For those that don’t know, here’s Charlie’s story.

 

Join Seventh Generation and #FightToxins

*This post is sponsored by Seventh Generation. I was compensated, but opinions are my own.*

As a mom with a child who has a Congenital Heart Defect, I can’t help but be concerned with the amount of toxic chemicals in our environment. These toxic chemicals are found in our everyday products. Think about what you use to clean your child’s toys, sheets, dishes, or your kitchen counters. Do you know what is in them? Did you know that of the 85,000 synthetic chemicals introduces into the market since the Toxic Substances Control Act was passed in 1976, the EPA has required testing on less than 10%?

 

Five Signs and Symptoms of a CHD

Today is the last day of Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week, but I hope you continue to think about it. CHDs cause a wide range of symptoms. Your baby may have only mild symptoms and tire easily, for example. He or she may have life-threatening symptoms, such as severe difficulty breathing. On the other hand, your baby might not have any symptoms that you notice at birth, but may have them later as he or she grows. These symptoms usually go away after the defect is corrected.

Lil' Heart Sluggers

 

  Jaxon, a baby boy in Kentucky, was born with a Congenital Hear Defect. His mommy and daddy made a baseball with his handprint on it while they were in the hospital preparing for his heart surgery. The simple baby memento made them feel like everything was normal for just a few minutes. The baseball became one of their most prized possessions and they want to share that feeling with others.   

Five Facts About CHD

Today is the first day of Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week. Charlie is 1 in 110 born with a CHD.

1. CHDs are the most common birth defects. CHDs occur in almost 1% of births.

2. CHDs are as common as autism and about twenty-five times more common than cystic fibrosis.

Mended Little Hearts

Mended Little Hearts is a program of Mended Hearts, Inc. Mended Hearts has been supporting families and patients since 1951. In 2004, Mended Little Hearts was born.

Mended Little Hearts' mission:

 "The Mended Little Hearts' mission is to provide hope and support to children, families and caregivers impacted by congenital heart defects in order to extend and improve quality of life."

Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week is Coming!

 

If you read my post Miracle #1, then you know why CHD Awareness is so important to me.

What is a Congenital Heart Defect?

• Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are problems with the heart’s structure that are present at birth.

• Common examples include holes in the inside walls of the heart and narrowed or leaky valves. In more severe forms of CHDs, blood vessels or heart chambers may be missing, poorly formed, and/or in the wrong place.




During CHD Awareness week, I'll be posting facts about CHD, how you can get involved, and some info about the many organizations out there already helping!

Miracle #1

Charlie, our honeymoon baby (who was 100% planned), was born April 27, 2011. My pregnancy was very normal and rather easy until early April. I was swollen and pretty much puffy all over. On April 26th we went to a regular 38 week appointment. The doctor told me my blood pressure was high, diagnosed me with pre-eclampsia and sent us to Labor & Delivery. We hung out in triage for a few hours while they pumped me with fluids and watched heart rates for mommy and baby. I thought I was going to be sent home until a nurse came in and informed us I was being admitted and that they'd induce in the morning. This was scary, scary to us because we didn't have a bag packed and certainly didn't plan on having a baby that day. I'll speed up- I was induced at about 8am, failed to progress and his heart-rate kept fluctuating, so he was born via c-section after 7pm. He was perfect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day the hospital pediatrician came to visit. He said Charlie had a heart murmur and they needed to do an echo on him to find out more. After they had done the echo that pediatrician came back in and asked where my husband was. I told him he went to get lunch and he said he would wait for my husband to return before talking to me. My heart sank. If everything was okay, he would've just told me.