So here it goes... My name is Trista and this is my 1st post/blog ever! Happy Valentine's Day to you all! I am a stay-at-home mom. I also homeschool my children. I think that this will be a blog about anything and everything that goes on in my world. My world that is starting to realize much more lately. This past week was Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week (Feb7-14). I had never heard of CHD's , and I have 4 children. CHD's are the #1 birth defects and the #1 killer of children. 40,000 babies (1 in 100) are born each year with congenital heart defects and 4,000 of them will not live to see their 1st birthday! There are more than 40 different types of CHD, and little is known about the cause of them. Twice as many children die from CHD each year than all forms of childhood cancer combined, yet funding for pediatric cancer is 5 times higher. Detecting them is as simple as asking your doctor to "look" for them at your 20 week ultrasound, and asking for a 'pulse ox' test after your child is born. 91,000 life years are lost each year to Congenital Heart Defects - Spread Awareness!
I have never felt the effect of CHD in my personal life, however, since September of 2010, I have been following a number of Heart Baby blogs. My mother's heart cries out for them, and I can raise awareness of this silent defect. -Trista
