Please join us in raising funds for congenital heart defect research. It is not only critically important to all babies born with, and children and adults living with congenital heart defects (CHDs), it is also personally meaningful to me. 

Our Story:

​At mom's anatomy scan it was discovered that baby Hudson had a VSD. Mom was reassured that VSDs are very common, it was very small (~3mm), would probably close on it's own and nothing to lose sleep over. Mom didn't tell anyone because she didn't want to freak anyone out.  

At each subsequent scan, she asked, "did it close?" The answer was always no, and that it most likely would when he took his first breath. 

Plot twist..

Mom went into labor at 34 weeks and 3 days and was given a steroid for fetal lung maturation. Would going full term had made a difference? Who knows. 

When Hudson was born he was having retractions which indicated he was struggling to breath so we spent a week in the NICU where he learned he didn't want any assistance breathing. In the NICU they performed an ECHO and he was diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) - a defect that would not allow the VSD to close on it's own. 

In the end, his surgical team decided it was not TOF and instead just a maligned VSD that still would not close on it's own. We had our one and only open heart surgery on November 9, 2021. 

Mom is dedicated to supporting other mom's through their CHD journey and advocating for fetal ECHOs to be standard of care when a defect is found. 

By donating to help me reach my fundraising goal, you’re helping to fund the most promising research into CHDs - America’s most common birth defect. ​

Join team Hudson's Hearty Heart to fundraise and walk with us on August 7th.

Together we can make a life-saving difference! Thank you in advance for your support.