Movie for post below.

Congenital Heart Defect Awareness

Last year for CHD Awareness Abby and her mom made a video to post online about CHD, how it has helped her become the person she is today, etc. This is a great video from our own Heart Hero. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. You can leave a comment here on my blog or you can even go to Abby's facebook page or blog and ask her questions.

To Important NOT to Share!

My sister in law has been posting on facebook about CHD. Today She Shared This:

Nicole Wardell

"Here in the United States, our heart children are fortunate enough to receive the care they need for their special broken hearts. In developing countries and even smaller developed countries, this kind of care is completely unattainable for many parents. They must simply watch as their heart babies deteriorate before their eyes, knowing that saving their life is possible...just not for them. The International Children's Heart Foundation has set out to offer lifesaving treatment to as many of these children as possible. Today...you can help them in their mission! Go to the link below and simply fill out the survey. An anonymous donor has offered to donate $5 for each survey filled out and will pledge up to $25,000 to the International Children's Heart Foundation. That is enough money to save the lives of TEN children with open heart surgery! PLEASE take a few minutes and help save the lives of babies like my Abby, who otherwise have no chance at a future. This is not a scam and your time will help fragile hearts see tomorrow's sunrise!"
http://womensvoicesforchange.org/80609.htm

Please help by filling out this survey. Thank You!

Facebook Events page revised

Hello everyone, it was brought to my attention that my CHD Awareness Event on Facebook couldn't be seen. I have now changed it to public so hopefully everyone can see it. I have 8 pictures of potential prizes. Please "Like" the 3 you think should be the grand prize choice. Thank You!

CHD and Pulse Ox

With the new stats about CHD and how many babies can have CHD how can we know how to detect CHD? With the wonders of technology we now have the ability to take 4D ultra sounds and have a picture of our cure little one whilst still in the womb. this is a wonderful resource not only to see the cute little fingers, toes and nose. But to check for any birth defects, complications and such. When I  was pregnant with our little girl my doc knew about Abby and a little of her story. So she knew the concern I had about CHD. When we did an ultra sounds she had me do a special ultra sound but focused just on the baby's heart. Through this technology we looked at the valves, all four chambers and anything else we could look at. Everything looked just fine. But just to be safe we wanted a pulse ox test after she was born. This is a simple test but sometimes hospitals wont do the test unless you ask for it. The pulse ox is a light that they will put on either the foot or the hand.

 












There are hospitals now that have the pulse ox as a mandatory test. A simple test that doesn't take very long, doesn't hurt that baby but can help detect a CHD and could potentially save a life.
What if your child has a CHD? Primary Children's Medical center did a great article on this. You can find it HERE. For now thats all I want to post. Because that is a topic I would like to expound on another day.

1 in 100

                Not a lot of people know that out of all the babies born around the world. 1 in 100 of them are born with a heart defect. Now when someone says a statistic like this it's a nice statistic to know. but it's hard to understand what exactly a statistic means without a little more background. So 1 in 100 babies, but how many babies are born in a day? According to a census taken in 2010. There are over 361,000 births each day. With that number, that means there are approximately 251 babies born throughout the world each and every minute.Out of those 251 babies 2 of them will have a heart defect. So 2 babies every minute, 120 babies every hour is born with a heart defect.
               My sassy niece Abby is 1 of 100 and the reason why I help spread awareness. She has had a fight that she has fought that is indescribable. But she has take on the challenge time and time again and has touched the lives of a lot of people in the process. You can read about Abby on her mothers blog Abby's Perfect Broken Heart. You can also follow her journey on facebook.

Need Help Choosing a Prize.

             Usually I have the prize already picked out before I start CHD Awareness Week. However many different things prevented me from doing that. So I am currently trying to choose a prize. I have narrowed it down to 8 but I am still struggling. So since this isn't going to be my prize but potentially your prize. I have posted all 8 pictures on my Facebook events page. The 3 pictures with the most likes will be the 3 choices for this years grand prize. Please help me decided.
              The past prizes have been purchased at either amazon or Morgan Jewelers. This years prize will come from Fred Meyer Jewelers. Just an FYI.

Sorry here's the video I talked about in the previous post.

Why Do I Help Spread CHD Awareness?

This is a video my sister in law Nikki did about her sweet Abby's first open heart surgery. 

5th Annual CHD Awareness Week

 

                     Hello everyone and welcome to the 5th annual CHD Awareness Week. I was very excited when I realized that this will be the 5th year of hosting this.

Today (like the first day of school :p) I would just like to explain what you can look forward to with this CHD week as well as a little of what I will be talking about. Also I will be including a post or two on organ donation as well. This year I have decided to do one prize instead of two. But the winner will get to choose from 3 different items. I will be keeping the prizes based around CHD. For example heart shaped jewelry, etc.   

                    There are 3 different ways you can submit your name into the drawing. (So a chance to have your name in the drawing 3 times instead of 1) One way is posting a question in the comments here on the blog, I will be answering all questions at the end of each week. The 2nd & 3rd way is helping to spread CHD awareness.  Examples are: Posting something on your blog about CHD and then put the link to your post in the comments so that I can go read about it. Helping to spread awareness on Facebook. You can do this by posting about CHD awareness, sharing my blog or event, making your profile picture something about CHD, etc. Please remember to tag me on Facebook or post a link in the comments section on my blog, so I know to add your name to the drawing. I would hate to only have your name in 2 times when you deserve 3. These are just some examples and will only get your name in the drawing once.
 

                 Tomorrow I will start all the facts and news about CHD what it is and more. Also about organ donation. Also an update on our family's CHD hero Abby Wardell. This event will last until Midnight on Feb 14. I will be announcing the winner of the contest on Feb 15th before 5PM U.S. MST (Mountain Standard Time). I am excited to share what I know with you and more and look forward to your stories, comments and questions.