3 years old ~ 3rd birthday picture

Hi I'm Donna, mommy to 5 awesome kids, 2 of which have become a part of the world of CHDs.

Connor James was born on his due date weighing in at 8lbs 1oz and 20" long! He was perfectly healthy and as happy as I have ever seen a person be. Right after his first birthday Connor got sick and with his illness we noticed he was turning blue all around his mouth, eyes and hands. The doctors put him in the hospital not knowing what could be wrong and after a week of tests FINALLY found out that he had a fairly large ASD. Connor had absolutely no murmur so it was not an easy diagnosis to make. The doctors decided to wait and watch until Connor turned 5 or 6 and then do the surgery to repair his hole.

Well this next year was awful and his turning blue (which we called "blue spells") was becoming more and more frequent. Finally just around his second birthday they decided to not wait any longer and do the surgery, as the blue spells were very concerning. April 16th, 2002 my baby boy had his surgery. After it was over the TS approached us. He looked at me and said "thank God we didn't try to wait until he was 5 or 6, The hole was much larger the we expected AND it was resting with quite a bit of pressure on a major artery in his heart...he would not have survived 2 more years without the surgery!" Thank God for my mother's intuition which led me to keep pushing them to find out why he was turning blue! Always follow your gut and your mothers heart when it comes to your precious children...remember that we are all they have!

My second CHD child is Kyle Louis "Ky". He was born 5-1/2 weeks early on 11/28/01 with a PDA and ASD both of which I am thrilled to say have repaired themselves without medical intervention!

I thank God everyday for all my babies, and I treasure every moment I have with them...if I have learned nothing else...I have learned that life is a precious gift and it is not owed to anybody, so take the time to enjoy it and all those you love that are in it!!!