Every 15 minutes in the United States, a baby is born with a congenital heart defect, making CHDs the most common birth defect in our country.

As a sweet and spunky, 2 year old little girl, you would never know that Briar has not one, but TWO congenital heart defects. 

Here's her ever growing story: 

  At 3 days old, our sweet Briar Bear was diagnosed with mild Pulmonary Valve Stenosis, which has gradually changed to moderate Pulmonary Valve Stenosis, but thankfully has stayed consistent the past few echoes. 

At one year old, she also was diagnosed with a second CHD, a large Atrial Septal Defect. This additional diagnosis came as a complete surprise for us and her Cardiology team and they are continuing to keep a very close eye on her. Her most recent echo was May 2026, which showed that her 12mm Atrial Septal Defect has stayed the same, however, her Pulmonary Valve Stenosis went from moderate to mild. Despite all of this, Briar continues to be the happiest little girl, surpassing milestones and surprising everyone with her great weight gain! 

  Currently, the plan in place for her is what they call "watchful waiting" - monitoring her with echos every 6 months. The wonderful Heart Center team at Nationwide Children's Hospital is planning to have a full case conference on her to go over the new Echo results and make a plan for her.

   While we aren't sure what the future will hold for us as they continue to monitor her as she grows, (whether it be a trip to the cath lab, open heart surgery, or it getting better on its own), we are so grateful that she has such an amazing Cardiology team at the Heart Center at Nationwide Children's Hospital.

#CHDAwarenessWeek #1in100 #bravelikebriar #chdawareness #chdwarrior #NCHHeartCenter

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