“Luke was born in December of 2019 after a uncomplicated, normal pregnancy. His delivery was as smooth as could be. He came out pink with a full head of hair! He did not have to go the NICU at all. He looked and acted like any other baby. He had perfect oxygen. The only thing the pediatrician noted at 24 hours was a heart murmur. Which is pretty common in newborns & usually goes away after another 24 hours. When the doctor came back when Luke was 2 days old, the murmur was still present. So she ordered an echocardiogram, which exposed a medium VSD (hole in his heart). We were sent home that day & told to follow up with pediatric cardiology.
1 week later, we followed up with a pediatric cardiologist, who did another echocardiogram. She then told us Luke had a new diagnosis. He had tetralogy of Fallot and would need open heart surgery at 4-6 months to repair the defects. There is no reason Luke got this defect, it was just the luck of the draw. 1/100 babies are born with a congenital heart defect. It is the most common birth defect.
That April, at 4 months old, Luke had his open heart surgery. He did amazing and was discharged on post-op day 5.
Fast forward to 2024, Luke is now 4 years old and is full of life and energy. He is a typical boy who loves tractors, playing in dirt and riding his bike. He lives on a farm, which allows him to be outside a lot and very active. He knows how to swim and ride a bike without training wheels. He gets annual echocardiograms and visits with pediatric cardiology around his birthday every year.”
