CHD Awareness!

I wanted to take a second away from surrogacy to talk about congenital heart defect (CHD) awareness week, which will kick off soon. Many of you many not know that Valentine's Day is CHD awareness day. It's cruel irony, but true. February is heart health awareness month, and the first Friday of the month is wear red day for women (that's tomorrow!). The following week however is dedicated to children, and adults, who are impacted by CHD. CHD is a birth defect that affects 1 in 100 babies, making it the number one birth defect worldwide.  This also makes it the number one cause of birth defect deaths worldwide. In addition, there are two times more deaths from CHD in children then all childhood cancers combined. I am one of the lucky ones, and I decided that in honor of awareness, I would share part of my story.

My mom had a healthy, happy pregnancy, and I was brought into the world just like anyone else, but 12 hours after I was born, my parent’s world, and my world changed. The nurses told my mother that she couldn’t see me in the nursery, and to return to her room. My mother thought I had jaundice, but later found out that it was much more than that. The doctors told her I was turning blue, and that there was something wrong with my heart. I had a laundry list of defects, which impacted my ability to get blood to my body. I would need surgery. After three surgeries over the course of about two years, I was able to start living a relatively normal life. My physical activity and stamina were impacted, but I grew up happy, and thankfully, healthy. It was through the first two years of my life, even when they were told I wasn't going to make it through the night, that my parents knew I was a fighter. I have long since enjoyed beating the odds, and causing some trouble along the way. If there is one thing you should know about me it's that losing is not in my vocabulary, and that I love a challenge. I love to win, and I know that I am strong because of the struggles I faced early on. 

I don’t know when I first became aware of the fact that I had a heart problem. I knew a saw a doctor for my heart, but I didn’t think anything of that. As I grew older, I became more aware of my limitations. My friends were all involved in sports, and I just couldn’t keep up. It was frustrating, but I turned to music and reading as an outlet, and grew in those areas. I was never bullied directly for my heart problem, as most of my classmates didn't know or fully understand, but I was teased, picked last in PE, and called turtle on several occasions. Thankfully, once I understood my heart problem, my parents, doctors, and many others gave me the confidence and skills I needed to address any questions people had. I was taught to embrace my differences, and celebrate the life I was given.

Middle school was tough, changing in PE was not my favorite, my scars were visible, and attracted many stares, not to mention, that was the first time I learned about my limits. I wanted to try out for the track team, but my parents had to tell me no. I couldn’t run the 100m even if I wanted to. Thankfully, although it was hard, my parents had my best interest at heart, and I don’t care that I wasn’t on track. I experienced more social issues in middle school, as my peers thought I was getting special treatment. Some people excluded me; it sucked.

High school was when it got tough though, I began having problems with my heart rhythm and wasn’t able to hide it from my classmates. Although the rhythm problems turned out to not be serious, it still placed a stigma on me. The rhythm problems started up again in college, and I found out that my original repair was failing. My atrium was not contracting normally, and I needed surgery. This news came on the day of B’s 21^st birthday, and he spent the night of his 21^st with me in the parking lot of the ER. I was placed on drugs to slow my heart rate down, and was driven many times by B and friends to the ER to have my heart rate slowed.

In May of 2009 I had my revision surgery. I recovered faster than anyone could ever imagine, making it out of the ICU in less than a day, and out of the hospital completely in six days. B was by my side every step of the way, and it was after this that I knew it was meant to be. It is also this event that makes me even more confident that surrogacy is the right choice. I know how much hell I put my family and B through during my surgeries, I couldn’t imagine putting a child through that, and having them think they did that to me. As of right now I am healthy, happy and blessed. I plan to stay that way for a long time, to live life to the fullest, and with our surrogacy journey, that is now possible. I will let everyone know the status after our appointments. Please feel free to donate to us in honor of CHD awareness, share this link and wear red tomorrow and the 14^th if you can.