CHD

There are hundreds of people who followed Ellie’s journey from afar and found inspiration in her story. I had the honor of witnessing her life up close for nearly a decade. Her impact runs deeper than inspiration—she and her family helped shape how we support every family we serve.

We got Josie when she was 9 months old, placed with us through medical foster care. We knew she had Marshall-Smith Syndrome, but we had no idea the journey the Lord was about to take us on.

Testing after she was born revealed that Aurora had a gap between her valve and heart, and that she had Trisomy 18.

A Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) is one of the most common birth defects among infants. 

By Lindsey BobbittMommy to WoodsonHypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome; Heart TransplantBorn September 2022 Our heart journey began in May 2022 at our anatomy scan. Woodson is our rainbow baby after losing our second daughter in August 2021 during the second trimester. I think I just assumed the pregnancy with Woodson would be fine because we had…

By Marisa BaeseMommy to AnabelHLHS (Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome), Down Syndrome T21August – October 2018We learned about Anabel’s severe heart defect and chromosome abnormality during the 20-week ultrasound. We were referred to specialists in St. Louis and saw them monthly until learning she would need to be born early at 34 weeks 5 days on…

By Mia WoodsMommy to FableBackwards Heart; Single Heart VentricleBorn December 2023 I was 20 weeks pregnant when we found out about Fable’s diagnosis – a backwards heart and single heart ventricle. At 36 weeks, I went in for a checkup and my baby’s heart rate was 280. I was quickly rushed to OB emergency where…

By Britney BoyerMommy to SebastianHypoplastic Left Heart SyndromeBorn May 2023 When I was in my third trimester of pregnancy, I was on my way to an OB appointment, hit a patch of black ice, spinning four times and hitting two trees. I crawled out of my car to wave down another vehicle and call an…

By Christina BryantMommy to Da’LayaInterrupted Aortic Arch Type B, large VSDNovember 2019 – February 2020 I got pregnant when I was 17 and did everything to ensure I had a healthy baby and pregnancy. My son was born with a hole in his heart and unbalanced chromosomes. They flew him to St. Louis 12 hours…

By Desiree JoynerMommy to RaidenHypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and 16.1 chromosome deletionJune 24 – August 1, 2024 From the start I always wanted a boy. When I found out I was pregnant in October of 2023, I couldn’t believe it. I was so happy to find out his due date was in July because my…