Main fundraiser photo

Caleb The Heart Warrior

Donation protected

There’s something wrong with your baby’s heart. 

I’m not much for long posts but here it goes...

When Jeremy and I moved back to Arkansas in April we had no idea that I was carrying a little life inside of me. When we found out with a positive pregnancy test that we were expecting a second baby we were so excited, and I, being an ‘expert mom now after 1 kid ’ was not worried in the slightest. Nora’s pregnancy had gone seamlessly, why was I to think this one would be any different.

Fast forward to the anatomy scan:

Jeremy and I went to our anatomy ultrasound at 18 weeks and during the scan I felt in my gut like something was wrong. I wasn’t sure what I was looking at but I didn’t remember Nora’s scan taking as long as this one did, and the way they kept measuring and going over the little guys organs. After the scan the nurse ask us to sit in this tiny little cubicle room, and that’s when I knew.

[You see, I’ve been in a little room like that before, it’s the room where they break the bad news to you, in private, so if you freak out or melt down you have your privacy to do so.]

Jeremy and Nora were also with me, so I didn’t say anything to Jeremy, mainly because I was too scared to say it out loud. 
The doctor came in the room and said, “well everything else is looking great, but there’s something wrong with your baby’s heart”

The world stopped. My heart sank. My eyes filled. My throat got a lump. My chest tightened.

Fast forward a month and a half when we finally got in to see the pediatric cardiologist in Little Rock for a fetal echo where we would finally receive a diagnosis for our sweet baby boy.
It is there that they told us that Caleb has d-TGA or Transposition of the Great Arteries. This essentially means that Caleb’s aorta and pulmonary artery are flipped and attached to the wrong place in Caleb’s heart.

Because of this diagnosis Caleb will need medical intervention right after birth to help stabilize him while he prepares for his surgical intervention which will happen a few days after he is born. This particular congenital heart defect is one where, without immediate surgery, would end in death. They will preform the arterial switch operation on Caleb during his open heart surgery.

So many things are up in the air right now. We aren’t sure what our time in Little Rock will look like, we don’t know what help we will need when we are there, when the surgery will actually take place, how long we will be there, etc etc. But here are some things we do know...

1. God knew Caleb and called him by name before the formation of the earth. 
2. Our hope now in this situation, and forever will be in God, and knowing that whatever the outcome, we will cling to the truth that He is good and His love endures forever. 
3. We are immensely blessed that Caleb’s congenital heart defect was actually caught on an ultrasound and not after he was born and his vitals start to fail.
4. We are so grateful that we live in a time where medical intervention actually gives Caleb a significant chance of life -and a ‘normal’ life after the surgery heals his tiny heart. 
5. We have the BEST support system of friends and family that have already showed up for us in big big ways and gladly walked with us this far on the journey.

We will of course keep everyone updated as much as possible through the course of this journey. We invite you to pray along side of us for Caleb’s ultimate healing in utero. If God chooses another path, we pray that Caleb will be healed by the hands of the surgeons that will operate on his tiny heart. And we pray that Caleb and his story can be a huge part in bringing glory to God.

“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Psalm 27: 13-14

#calebthestrong #chd #1ina100 #heartwarrior
Donate

Donations 

  • Allison Stroud
    • $50 
    • 5 yrs
Donate

Organizer and beneficiary

Angela Story
Organizer
Prairie Grove, AR
Cassidy Arent
Beneficiary

Your easy, powerful, and trusted home for help

  • Easy

    Donate quickly and easily.

  • Powerful

    Send help right to the people and causes you care about.

  • Trusted

    Your donation is protected by the  GoFundMe Giving Guarantee.