A guide to CHD for new heart parents

Helping parents navigate the first year with their heart warriors, tube feeding, and raising Congenital Heart Defect awareness

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CHD

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FEEDING

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MOM LIFE

Dear New Heart Mama

A letter for the heart mom whose baby was recently diagnosed with a hole in their heart or another Congenital Heart Defect

CHD Parent Guides | Open Heart Surgery

Lines and Tubes and Beeps, oh My!: A Baby After Open Heart Surgery

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! What’s the equally alarming, open heart surgery version? Lines and tubes and beeps, oh my! We’re discussing the various wires, tubes, lines, machines, beeps, and more that you might see in the cardiac intensive care unit attached to your baby after open heart…

A mother gently kisses the head of her baby, who is wrapped in a dark chambray carrier. The baby has a pink heart-patterned tube tape and a nasogastric (NG) tube on their cheek, and looks directly at the camera.

Heart Mom Life | Open Heart Surgery

I’m not ready, but I have to be because I am a Heart Mom

We’re getting closer. I try to stick to the nuts and bolts, but my heart and soul so easily weep. I have to hand you over again soon, too soon. And I have to trust and let you go because I am a Heart Mom. I never anticipated joining the…

A small wicker gift basket containing a bottle of wine, a blue stainless reusable cup, a dark blue cup, a small potted herb plant, and a white envelope. The items are neatly arranged, suggesting a thoughtful and curated gift basket.

Supporting CHD Families

25 Items for a CHD Hospital Care Package for Parents

Parents gazing over their newborn baby in a hospital bassinet seems like a perfectly normal, typical scenario. Parents wide-eyed in fear looking over their newborn baby covered in wires and tubes in the cardiac intensive care unit…not so normal or typical. Yet this was our reality and is the reality…

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So…what is CHD?

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Support CHD families and advocate

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DON’T MISS

Meet Jessica

Inspired by her warrior daughter born with critical Congenital Heart Defects, heart mom, Jessica, founded Our Modern Familee.

She cared for her through two open-heart surgeries, NG tube feeding, and all that Congenital Heart Disease involves.

Now, Jessica shares her experiences and expertise to guide new CHD parents through the tough first year with their medically complex heart babies.

Mom with dark curly hair wearing rust brown dress with ruffles and chiffon, smiling in a park - Jessica Lee, CHD blog, heart mom

25%

of CHD babies need heart surgery or interventions before they turn 1 year old

40,000

babies are born with CHD every year in the United States

80%

approximately 80-85% of CHD cases have no known reason

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