?Wounded hearts beat the loudest.?My name is Sarah. I am a wife and mother of 3 sons. My youngest?Greyson is a heart warrior. This is our story: My husband and I were not trying for our third child when we found out we were pregnant with our singleton. Our first children, twins, were born 6 weeks early and required a NICU stay. With Greyson, I was picturing an easier pregnancy, delivery, and breastfeeding experience. I was picturing a normal hospital stay without the NICU, feeding tubes, and scheduled feeds. These thoughts were exciting and something I couldn?t even imagine because of my previous experience. However, after our 20 week anatomy ultrasound on March 15, 2018, I knew the experience I pictured would be extremely different from anything I had imagined.?Something is wrong with the right side of your baby?s heart. It may not be survivable.? ?Survivable,? a word that still haunts me to this day. How could this happen? I did everything right. We had our first pre-natal cardiology appointment the week following the ultrasound. It was at this appointment we received Greyson?s diagnosis--Pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum (PA/IVS) and Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome (HRHS). Essentially, our son would be born with only half of a functioning heart. We were told this diagnosis was considered a critical CHD and his specific case was severe. We were encouraged to expect multiple surgeries or even a heart transplant. All plans changed, and the dream of having a ?normal? birth experience was gone. Now, I would be induced and there would be Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) stays, surgeries, procedures, and medications. All the things I had pictured about my pregnancy and delivery were now altered beyond recognition. During this period, I was intensely grieving so many things: my son?s health, his future, and missing out on valuable time with my other boys to live away from home and within the walls of Seattle Children?s Hospital. It was so hard to know the most difficult challenge of my life was just around the corner, and I had no control over the situation. Needless to say--for me, the remaining portion of my pregnancy was emotionally taxing, and I felt very alone.Our heart warrior and one of the greatest loves of our lives, Greyson was born in July 2018. His pre-natal diagnosis was confirmed at birth and his ?treatment? plan was decided. He would undergo multiple open heart surgeries to allow his heart to palliatively function on the left side. After many ups and downs, and multiple hospitalizations, Greyson had his first open heart surgery, the Glenn, in November 2018 and his second, the Fontan, in November of 2021. He has no other expected open heart surgeries until a transplant sometime in the future. Greyson is a ?normal? 3 year old. He tries his best to keep up with his brothers, and he?s hitting all his important milestones. And for this, we are considered lucky. He?s funny, smart, and extremely feisty. You would never know of the battles he?s fought and won without seeing his bare chest. He amazes us everyday, and truly is our hero. Throughout my journey as a Heart mom, a certain quote has been branded in my mind, ?Wounded Hearts Beat the Loudest.? It was a quote that brought me comfort in every frame of our journey, because while my heart was aching and wounded like never before, I knew I needed to make some good from this experience. Finding out your unborn child has a serious and rare health condition is an isolating experience. It taints and robs expectant mothers and fathers of many of the joys of pregnancy. It is my mission to bring some small pieces of comfort to other expectant parents in a similar position. These babies and their families are expected to spend weeks, if not months, under the roof of Seattle Children?s. Not only are these kids the strongest warriors I have ever witnessed, but the parents are as well. These parents would give anything to switch places with their child to spare them from having to endure that level of physical pain at such a young and vulnerable age. They will hand their precious infants over to and put their complete trust in a stranger to perform one of the most invasive procedures possible. They?ll stand by and observe their child getting poked and prodded multiple times daily. In some cases, parents go weeks without being able to hold their child. All this as they forego the comforts of their own home during what is undoubtedly the most stressful and taxing time of their lives. Unfortunately, there is not currently a plethora of support options available for the prenatal (before birth) period for parents who receive a CHD diagnosis in their unborn child. I have been working with the Seattle Children?s prenatal clinic over the last three years to improve prenatal support offerings. As part of this collaboration, my husband and I have been putting together and providing care packages to all expectant parents discovering their unborn child has a critical CHD, like Greyson?s. In our packages we include items we found most helpful: a cozy queen sized blanket, warm socks, lotion, Chapstick, Starbucks card (there?s 3 just within Seattle Children?s), and a folder to hold important documents. In addition to care packages, I offer communication with and friendly support to parents of newly diagnosed babies. My hope is to be an outlet to of support to these families as they embark on the long and treacherous journey. To date, we have provided over 100 care packages to the prenatal Clinic at Seattle Children?s Hospital. Each package costs $60-70 when able to make bulk purchases. In an effort to raise the necessary funds to continue to put these care packages together, Brian and I have created this store. 100% of our proceeds from this store will go towards these care packages. And 100% of these care packages are given to Seattle Children?s heart families after a diagnosis has been made. We thank you so much for your consideration and support.??????????????????????