“We welcomed our sweet baby girl, Vail Theresa, May 1st at 12:33 p.m. 💜 6lbs 5oz and 18 inches long. After 34 nights, we are home.

During our anatomy scan, they were unable to get all the necessary images of baby Vail’s heart, and she was also measuring below the 10th percentile for gestational age. As a result, we were referred to Maternal-Fetal Medicine for further evaluation. A couple weeks later, we learned the cause: Vail has a complex congenital heart defect.

Given the nature of her condition, I was referred to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for delivery and specialized cardiac care. At 36 weeks, I relocated to the Ronald McDonald House in Cincinnati. Vail was born at 39 weeks and was then taken to the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU).

On May 6th, at five days old, she had open-heart surgery. We are so grateful that the procedure went as well as possible. The surgical team was able to perform the REV procedure which avoids the use of a conduit. This approach gives her the potential to delay further major heart surgery until adolescence or longer—rather than requiring another operation in just a year or two.

On May 9th she was extubated, had most of her tubes removed, and we were able to hold her again. ❤️

On May 10th she was able to start very small amounts of my breastmilk through her feeding tube.

On May 13th she broke out of CICU and moved to the step-down unit! We had some setbacks and bumps in the road, but thankfully nothing out of the norm for her repair.

On May 18th we got to come home.

We are so, so thankful for the surgeon, doctors, and nurses at Cincinnati Children’s for saving our Vail’s life, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Cincinnati for providing us a place to stay with free meals and so much fun for the boys and all the love and support from our surrounding family and friends.”

-Shalena, Dakota, Jeremiah, Judah and baby Vail