Marking International CDH Awareness Day 2013

Today I can't help but look back at this crazy journey my little family has been on since November 2011 when we found out at our 20 week ultrasound that our unborn daughter, Luna, had a severe right-sided congenital diaphragmatic hernia and was given a very grim prognosis. That day I decided that I would not take this sitting down. I knew I had to do something. I had to fight for my daughter. So that day I called CHOP and asked them for help.

Luna was born at 3:48am on March 24, 2012 weighing 8 pounds, 12 ounces. That was the scariest moment of my life. We did not know how she would do. We did not know what would happen. But Luna proved to be a tough little baby. She had her repair surgery at 4 days old. That was the second scariest day of my life. Thankfully, her surgery was a success. Although her hernia was large, she did not require a patch. She also had a Ladd's procedure and her appendix removed along with her repair. Luna handled the recovery very well. We were finally able to hold her at 10 days old. She was extubated at 11 days old. She came home at 5 weeks old.

Today, Luna is a very happy and healthy 1 year old. We are so, so, so blessed. She is the absolute best thing ever. CDH, not so much. I pray that myself and other CDH parents will continue to raise CDH awareness so that hopefully one day we may learn more about CDH and be able to perhaps prevent the incredible amount of pain it has brought to so many families who weren't able to bring their babies home. I hurt for these families and pray that God bless them and bring them some sense of comfort in the midst of such pain.

Wearing my CDH bracelet at work.

On the left: holding Luna for the first time at 10 days old. On the right: Luna and I today.

Paying it forward...

In honor of Luna's 1st Birthday we decided to hold a CHERUBS Hope Tote Bag Drive to collect items for the tote bags that CHERUBS mails out to new CDH families. We are so blessed with such kind and generous family, friends and coworkers. As you can see we were able to collect quiet a few items. We can't wait to ship everything out to CHERUBS. I remember when we first joined and received our tote bag. It brought a sense of comfort during an otherwise unknown and scary period in our pregnancy. We hope that these items can bring the same feeling to new CDH families.

Celebrating Luna by Paying it Forward

Our dear Luna is turning the “BIG 1” this month. We are beyond happy, excited, and thankful to reach this very momentous milestone with our strong and beautiful daughter. We thought we would do something special to give thanks to one of the organizations that provided us with so much support throughout our very bumpy CDH journey.
 
We've decided to ask our family, friends and coworkers to participate in a month long CHERUBS HOPE Tote Bag Drive to collect the various items that go into each Totebag that is then delivered to parents expecting a CDH baby. We are so excited to "pay it forward" to this great organization.