Phoenix's Story - Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH)

Hello! My little warriors name is Phoenix! We found out about getting pregnant with little Phoenix around Christmas 2018. And when I was between 32-33 weeks pregnant with him, we found out that he had CDH, which is short for Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia. We learned this occurs when his diaphragm was not formed fully and that he had his intestines in his chest. We were devastated to hear the news that he wasn't healthy. After this I was never told much information throughout the rest of my pregnancy. Except that my fluid levels were higher than normal and that his hernia was on the left side. He was supposed to meet everyone via c-section on 8-6-2019, but he just couldn't wait! At 2:12 p.m on 8-4-2019, he was born. 

Phoenix was able to let out one cry before he was taken to get help breathing. But he stayed strong! My husband and I got to officially meet him about 12 hours after having him. It was torture to wait that long before laying eyes on our baby boy.

At 3 days old he had his repair surgery. They tried to fix the repair laparoscopically, but his hernia was larger than they had thought. They did the repair through the side/back and had to spread his ribs in order to put a mesh patch to repair the hole in the diaphragm. After seeing him laying in the NICU after surgery, I had tears in my eyes. It took about 3 days after surgery before we could hold him. And 4 days after surgery to be taken off the ventilator. At about a week and a half old he was taken off oxygen completely. He stayed strong through the whole thing and was able to go home on no oxygen at 2 weeks old! We were so happy to take our little warrior home at last. Now he enjoys watching his brother and sister run around and they give him lots of loving. He also loves smiling and laughing at everything! He is such a happy baby now!

#KeepOnFightingPhoenix