February is CHD (Congenital Heart Disease) Awareness Month.
This week 2/7 - 2/14 is CHD Awareness Week. Today is Day 1 of the CHD Awareness Week Challenge.
So over the next week I will highlight how our family has been impacted by CHD.
My Boy Nate is the highlight of the week and our CHD Warrior! He is our Heart Warrior.
♥️ Born on Heart Day - Valentines Day
♥️ Born with Heart Disease
♥️ Born with a Heart that Loves others more deeply then most
He is our Heart Warrior! And This week coincides perfectly with his 16th birthday coming up… what a way to highlight his life while raising awareness!
Day 1: Diagnosis Day
Nate was born on February 14th. I don’t remember if it was that day or the following day 2/15 (most likely the following because I had a c-section and was in recovery for the entire day)… my husband, Jeremy and I were told that Nate was born with VSD (ventricular septal defect), a hole in his heart. So his initial diagnosis - at birth!
In the days, weeks, and months to come he would go through so many tests and there were so many wires everywhere….you couldn’t even see his little baby self through all the wires on that first EKG which was at 1 week old.
We would be told that the VSD was large but partially blocked…keeping the amount of blood leaking through to a minimum and so we would just watch and wait.
Age 2 1/2 we would find out that he developed 3 other heart conditions (common with someone who has VSD)…Sub-Aortic Membrane Growth, Sub-Aortic Prolapse, and thickening of the heart muscle itself from overworking.
He would then go on to have open heart surgery at the age of 3 (different post for a different day this week) which would lead to yet another diagnosis of complete heart block.
This pic is of Nate at age 3 arriving at our “2nd home” Children's Hospital of Philadelphia at 4am on his surgery day!
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