Please help my son, daughter-in-law, and grandson. July 15th, 2024 Dakota and Destinee Twyman got the news that no parent or loved one wants to hear. A fetal echocardiogram was done on their sweet baby boy who is due November 20th, 2024, and it revealed that his heart has a severe heart defect called Aortic Valve Stenosis. After learning this, the cardiologist in Bend said that Destinee and the baby would have to undergo surgery when she was around 26-28 weeks pregnant. They informed them that they needed to put a needle into the baby's heart and use a small balloon to try and stretch the value so that the blood could move correctly on the left side of his heart. The left side of the baby's heart is getting blood into the ventricle but not much can leave which causes the blood to pool up and enlarge that side of the heart. They were told that only a few hospitals could even perform the surgery with one being in San Francisco and one in Boston. The cardiologist informed them that San Francisco was able to do the surgery but the baby was in such critical condition that it had to be completed as soon as a team could be pulled together. Later that same evening they received a call from the hospital in San Francisco to let them know that the baby was in too bad of a condition and they were not willing to do the procedure and neither was Boston. They felt that if they did the surgery, the baby would have less than a 25% survival rate. After being told this had to happen, it felt like there was no hope. This is not what they had expected as newlyweds having their first child. They reached out to their local cardiologist again to search for other options. It felt like a death sentence for their sweet boy. The cardiologist said that if the baby was to be carried to full term, it would develop Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS). HLHS is the worst congenital heart defect. They were referred to OHSU to talk to doctors there so that we could find out what options remained. On July 22nd, 2024 we traveled to Portland to have a new ultrasound, new fetal echocardiogram, and meet the doctors. They provided 3 options, only one of which gave him a chance at surviving. Although it is not a guarantee, they have decided to go that direction. Destinee and the baby will be monitored closely throughout the remainder of the pregnancy with many trips to Portland for testing and scans. Destinee and Dakota will have to relocate to Portland when she reaches 38 weeks. At 39 weeks she will be induced and deliver the baby in a very controlled environment with lots of teams of doctors ready to help. He will have his first surgery called the Norwood surgery within the first week of life. He will be in the hospital for around 6 weeks if all goes well. He will need another surgery called the Glenn, and then another surgery around 3 to 4 years of age called the Fontan. If all of these procedures go well he should be able to live into his teen years. Then he will need a heart transplant. For at least the 1st 6 months of his life, he will have to have continuous care and support. Dakota and Destinee will have to miss a lot of work while caring for this sweet little guy. They will be incurring a lot of expenses and could really use any help you could possibly provide. It was hard to put this all out there since they are very private people, but as we learn more about what is in store we know we have to ask for help. Please help them in any way you can, even if it is just keeping them in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you.