Our names are Stedman and Hailey Valentine and here is our story. In September of 2025, we found out that Hailey was pregnant with our third child. Our first two children, Amara and Jude, both died in the womb before 14 weeks of pregnancy and we can't wait to meet them in Heaven. But you can only imagine our excitement as the child Hailey is now pregnant with made it past that point. At 14 weeks, we learned Baby Valentine was a girl. We were so elated to be having a little girl and everything seemed to be fine. This all changed at our 20-week anatomy scan on Dec. 30th. The ultrasound technician could not get a good view of her heart. He attributed this to her not being quite 20 weeks yet. We left and came back again that same day to see if he could get a better picture. He still couldn’t get a good picture, so we rescheduled our anatomy scan for Jan. 12th. On Jan. 12th, he still couldn’t get a good picture, which he thought was odd. We received a call the next morning from our midwife, Kelly. She spoke to the ultrasound tech, and he feared there was something off with her heart, so they referred us to Women’s Wellness Center in Columbia, MO. There we saw Dr. Grant, and he ran all the tests again and told us something was wrong. Baby Valentine has a DORV (Double Outlet Right Ventricle) with a VSD (Ventricular Septal Defect), which is a rare congenital heart defect where both major arteries (aorta and pulmonary artery) connect to the right ventricle, and a hole (VSD) exists between the ventricles. Oxygen-rich blood from the left ventricle mixes with oxygen-poor blood via the VSD. This has affected her growth because she is measuring smaller than the 1st percentile in size for her gestational age. He informed us that Baby Valentine would need open-heart surgery to correct this within the first 6 months of life.

Up to this point, we were planning a home birth, but that was off the table. When Baby Valentine is born, she will need a neonatal cardiothoracic team ready to operate should things go poorly. The hospitals in Springfield, Missouri, where we currently live, don't have those kinds of specialists in-house, so we had to choose between hospitals in St. Louis or Kansas City. We chose Children’s Mercy in Kansas City because of the relationships we have there. Our first appointment at Children’s Mercy KC was on February 17th. They ran all the tests and confirmed everything that Dr. Grant saw and more. They told us she had a transposition of the greater arteries (TGA) which is a a life-threatening congenital heart defect where the aorta and pulmonary artery are switched, causing oxygen-poor blood to circulate throughout the body. Also the arteries that carry blood to her lungs were abnormally small, and she is missing half a vertebra in her spine. I asked the doctor, “Have you ever seen a situation like this?” She replied, “No.” That wasn’t encouraging, but they assured us she was in good hands. We were told that Hailey needs to get induced at 37 weeks because anytime after that, the odds of a stillbirth go up. And she needed to pick up weight if Hailey wanted to deliver her naturally because children her size don’t tolerate the birth canal well. We ended our time by scheduling Hailey for a follow-up appointment at Children’s Mercy KC, but they also wanted Hailey to see a high-risk doctor at Mercy Children’s in Springfield for ultrasounds and stress tests to make sure the baby is progressing.

Our next (and most recent) appointment at Children’s Mercy KC was March 19th. They ran all the same tests, and she had picked up some weight, which is good, but she is still small for her age. However, there was some more not-so-good news. Baby Valentine has a PAS (Pulmonary Artery Sling) also, which is a rare congenital vascular anomaly where the left pulmonary artery arises from the right pulmonary artery and wraps around her trachea to reach her left lung. This can compress her trachea, leading to respiratory distress, stridor, or wheezing in infants. Some people don’t even know they have PAS until later in life.

We also sat down with the neonatal team, and they told us what to expect and told them what we wanted from a birthing standpoint. She will need at least one (it could be more) open-heart surgery, and because of the complexity of the situation, they are leaning toward having that surgery within the first week of life. This is assuming that she can sustain life once the umbilical cord is cut. If not, she will go immediately to surgery, which is not ideal but would be necessary. We were told to plan to stay in KC for at least 2 months. We plan to stay at the Ronald McDonald House that is close to the hospital. Hailey’s date of induction is May 4th. She will go up to Kansas City the week before to prepare for birth. I will stay back and move from the house we are renting to a smaller, cheaper house to save money on May 1st and 2nd. I will then join her in Kansas City. If you want to stay up to date on our journey, you can sign up for Caring Bridge here . We post current updates here, and if you get the app, you can be notified when we post updates.

So that was mostly facts. And the question you are probably asking is, “How are you and Hailey doing?” I believe Hailey and I are stable. Suffering has not changed our theology. We believe God ordains all things for our good and ultimately for His glory. We are praying that He ordained this so He can use Him healing her heart as a means to save all the doctors in the neonatal unit and encourage our hearts. But if not, we trust Him. We are praying that the LORD would heal our child’s heart, then give her a new heart so that she may love, follow, and rejoice in Him. At times there is worry, but we do our best not to let that worry drive us to despair. We use it as motivation to go back to the Cross in which He showed He had a plan for our biggest problem, our sin; therefore, He has a good plan for this problem also. The Cross shows us that He loves us, and suffering is not the end. Is it easy to walk through this process? Absolutely not. There have been difficulties along the way. But in each difficulty, there are sweet mercies to remind us of His faithfulness to us.

Here is where you can help us, friends.

Please partner with us in praying for a complete healing of Baby Valentine’s heart and that the LORD would save her at an early age. We want our child not to remember days when God wasn’t her father and Christ wasn’t her LORD and Savior.

Please pray that the LORD would sustain Hailey and my marriage as we walk through this trial. It can be difficult in trying seasons to forget to cultivate our marriage.

Pray that the LORD would help us to be godly parents despite the situation.

If the LORD does not completely heal her, please pray for wisdom for us and the doctors as we make choices about her birth and as they do surgery.

Pray for peace that surpasses understanding and inexpressible joy to mark us as we navigate this season. When it seems like life is going to Hell, we can still rejoice because we are going to Heaven.

Lastly, the reason we have created this GoFundMe is because many of you have expressed a desire to help us financially during this time because you have walked through something similar or you love us. We are so thankful, and your financial support means so much to us in this season. By the grace of God, I work at a great church, Hill City, which will continue to pay me as we walk through this process. Hailey has insurance through Christian Healthcare Ministries, which will cover up to 200k for all medical costs (which we are really hoping doesn’t exceed 200k). But Hailey has slowed to rest more for the sake of the baby's health and her own health, and she will rightly take off much more time than we originally anticipated. Therefore, we will head into a “lean season” and pray that we trust the LORD as He continues to meet our needs. Would you prayerfully consider financially supporting us in this season? All money donated will go to unforeseen medical costs, travel/lodging/food, and further care for Baby Valentine and Hailey.

We love you and look forward to how the LORD will use this process and Baby Valentine’s life to help us know Him more, love Him more, and rejoice in Him more. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Thanks, in advance, friends.