CHD Awareness

The month of February is CHD awareness month! February 7th-14th is CHD awareness week! That means that me and many other people apart of the CHD community will be spreading the word about Congenital Heart Defect. Most of you probably know what a Congenital Heart Defect is but just to be sure I'll refresh your memory! If you don't need a refresh go ahead and skip to the third paragraph!

Congenital means present at birth so a CHD is a defect with the heart that was present at birth. When the baby is growing in the womb sometimes, for unknown reasons, the structure of the heart can develop wrong. Defects in the heart can cause the flow of blood in the heart to be disrupted. Blood in the heart may slow down, go to the wrong direction/place, and/or be blocked completely. Some heart defects can be treated by medicine while others may require a surgical procedure (Heart catheterization, open heart surgery, and heart transplant).  

Congenital Heart Defect is the number one birth defect! And I'm not just talking about number one in the U.S, Its the number one birth defect in the world! One out of one hundred babies will be diagnosed with CHD. Not only is  it the number one birth defect but its also the number one birth defect to cause the most deaths.  Each year over 100,000 children lose their lives because of CHD. These statistics are shocking and disturbing! Whats sad is that most people have no idea what a congenital heart defect is, and that's including medical personnel. What's even more sad is that research for the number one birth defect is the LEAST funded! Awareness of Congenital Heart Defect is SOOO Important! 


Most of you that have been following are aware of Kaylee's experiences with CHD. What you may not know is how lucky we were that an ultrasound tech saw an abnormality with her heart. Most parents do not find out their child has a heart defect until they've gone home and start noticing symptoms and rush them back to the hospital. Other parents don't find out their child has a heart defect until its too late. When Kaylee was born we were mentally prepared and doctors were also prepared to do whatever was needed to care for my daughter. We were lucky. 


To spread awareness I will be spreading the word about CHD and I encourage you to do the same. I have already changed my facebook profile picture

 (Picture credit goes to Kimberly and Matthew Favero, members of the CHD community)
I would hope you would also change your profile picture to help spread awareness! Just "right click" "Save as" and upload it to your facebook and make it your profile picture! 


-Kaylee's Mommy