He is now an active (almost) 10 year old who loves drawing, writing, and sports. He brings joy to every room he enters with his spunky and funny personality, and we pray that his story will help others facing the same diagnosis.

He is excelling in school and LOVES all sports—especially contact sports! His endurance is better than most kids his own age- he is an incredible soccer player and as luck would have it, he is pretty good at golf, too! We thank God daily for this miracle who is constantly talking, driving us crazy about college sports scores, and wanting to play outside 24/7.

Grayson was born at 38 weeks with a left-sided CDH, operated on at a day old, and spent 30 days in the NICU. No ECMO. He came home without a feeding tube and the need for oxygen. He basically sailed through the process like a rock star!

He had decided on a name for him as well: Christian Peter, which means strong rock. He then handed me a picture of our son that was taken by a very nice volunteer with the March of Dimes. I clung on to this picture for the next 24 hours as I lay in my bed, unable to visit my sick baby boy.

I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. I cried for weeks. I couldn’t look at babies, kids, or other pregnant women without my heart breaking.

No ECMO was needed, and he continued to thrive. He was a little slow with feedings, but finally picked it up. I was able to hold him for the first time 2 weeks after he was born. I also was able to pump the whole time he was in the hospital, so he received it via tube and then bottle once we got to that point.

Kennedy's corrective surgery was at 5 days old. There was enough diaphragm left to sew it together instead of using a patch. She did well but struggled with eating and reflux. At one month old, a feeding tube was placed and a Nissen procedure done. We left the NICU and headed home at 2 months old. 7 surgeries later and 11 years old, we are beyond grateful...!!!

Steph is now 22 and beautiful, with no apparent side effects at all. We were told she would never be able to burp. Oh boy were they wrong!!

As he grew older, he became sick less often. Ian grew with no physical restrictions. He played soccer and basketball when he was younger, would ride his bike and skateboard, swim and go surfing. He would get more winded than some children when he would run long distances, but there was never anything he wanted to do that he couldn’t.