James was our first child. We were so excited about starting our family. Fairly early on we knew something was wrong after an ultrasound tech went quiet in the middle of the scan. Shortly afterwards we learned that our sweet baby James had hypolastic left heart syndrome. This began the regimen of doctor’s appointments, scans, and trips to MUSC to meet with the specialists. James was born a few days before his planned arrival date at MUSC. Thanks to many months and countless prayers we were as prepared as we could be. After his birth the doctors met with us and it boiled down to this – the number of surgeries James would need would not guarantee anything, but without them he didn’t have a chance… “We want to give him a chance…” We loved this boy, and we wanted more time with him. James had open heart surgery at one week old and would live 13 of the best and most difficult days of our lives. We are better for him and everything he taught us about life, love and appreciating every moment you have in this life. The friends and connections we’ve made because of CHD and HLHS are some of the ones we hold most dear.
