Lucy, born 2016

My husband and I found out we were pregnant with our third child the day after my sister also found out she was pregnant. As if that wasn't exciting enough it was also the week before Christmas. Which as you can imagine lead us to the most exciting Christmas ever! Both my husband and I and my sister and her husband announced to our family Christmas Eve. It was such a special night.

We found out pretty early on that something wasn't quite right. At first we were told our baby had a chromosome missing. We found out through lots of testing and lots of waiting our baby actually had Pulmonary Atresia with IVS. I went into labor two weeks early and was life flighted to a hospital four hours from home. Lucy was born and I got to hold her and look into her perfect eyes for 5 min before she was whisked away. I remember just praying she would cry when she came out. In my mind I correlated a strong cry with a fighting spirit. Lord knew Lucy needed a fighting spirit. She did, she came out with a strong cry. In that moment it was music to my ears.

Lucy had a cath at four days old. They were able to poke open her pulmonary valve and place a stint in her PDA. In the following months we witnessed nothing short of a complete miracle as Lucy undeveloped right ventricle grew to be 2/3 the size of a "normal" ventricle. The plan was to proceed with the Glenn surgery. Her surgeons wanted to put if off to see if her heart would continue to grow.

Lucy is now five months old and absolutely perfect. She is no different than any other baby, and you would never know by looking at her that she was born with a CHD. She is scheduled for her open heart surgery February 23. I will update her story after she’s home from. My husband and I are praying and hoping for the best. Trusting that whatever outcome her doctors decide on is best for her. She is fearfully and wonderfully made. While this journey has not been the easiest at times, I wouldn't trade it for the world. Our Faith has been our foundation and our Rock, and will continue to see us through no matter the outcome.

Story by Lucy’s mom, Rebekah - Oregon

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