This journey hasn't been easy, but you never know about things like this until it happens to you—all of the sleepless nights at the hospital, surgeries, all the waiting, the nerves. The list could go on and on. Every CDH journey is different but we are so alike in many ways.

That day you first learn the words “Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia” is one you will never forget. May 10, 2019, will forever be a hard day for me. Only two days before my first Mother’s Day, our world was shattered.

We are so incredibly proud of Scarlett and everything she has overcome. She continues to amaze us daily with her strength, we are so blessed to be her parents, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for her!

Today Navy is one year old. He's SO close to walking. He eats food of all kinds. He loves dancing, swimming in the pool and going to the beach. He gets a huge smile whenever he sees Mickey Mouse or his sister. He is his mommy's sweet cuddler and daddy's wild baby.

He has an extreme love of all sports but especially baseball and golf. I've been told his hand-eye coordination in these sports is as good, if not better than a 5-year-old at only two years old! He continues to amaze us with his sweet personality and talents.

Fast forward two months, and Aubrey is a happy and healthy six-month-old. She is eating pureed fruits and vegetables along with breast milk, working on rolling over, and having the time of her life in her new bouncer.

Although we will never know exactly why Carsten was born with CDH, we do know that he has shown us a kind of strength we did not know existed and the sheer determination to fight no matter what.

With every beautiful breath she takes and every high-pitch squeal we hear, we are reminded of God’s grace and the amazing work He is doing through Dr. Kays and the JHACH team.

2020 has been a year like no other. Having a CDH baby in the middle of a global pandemic sounds like a riveting fiction novel. God works in mysterious ways, and this journey of a lifetime has challenged our whole family to reimagine what’s possible in life.

We left the hospital at 41 days. She came home on .1 liter of oxygen and was off it in 3 months. Now, she is seven months and a thriving little girl.

Today, Arabella is absolutely amazing. Of course, she may have minor issues in the future, but if this terrible defect was a magazine, Bella would be on the cover. To think we were so close to losing her. So close to not giving her a shot to survive.

There were many hard days, but Elisa's life was and still is 100% worth the fight. Our pregnancy and first year with Elisa have been anything but ordinary, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

CDH is not a death sentence. There is so much hope for these kids. You just need to believe in them and find a medical team that believes in them as well!

After losing one son to CDH, we were willing to do whatever we had to do to be sure Soren survived. Without hesitation, we booked our plane tickets and made our way to Florida to meet the infamous Dr. Kays.

After we were diagnosed, I spoke to a mom who told me that if God had told her the outcome, it wouldn't have allowed her to entirely rely on Him for the months of the unknown. God led us to JHAC and gave us the strength we needed each day to make it.

My son was born with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia on the Right side. We had no idea of his condition until he was born.

Ryan’s CDH journey began on December 20,2017, after we were referred to OSU Wexner MFM clinic due to an abnormal finding at our 20-week scan at the OB/GYN.

Later a Facebook friend of a friend told us her story of her CDH baby and how they found hope through Tiny Hero and a CDH specialist, Dr. Kays, at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital

Once we got to Gainesville the doctor there new exactly what it was. He wrote on a piece of paper, CDH. I had no idea what that even was. He told me it was a 97 percent survival rate but she would need surgery and a long hospital stay.

Our Strong for Penelope supporters and the CDH community have shown us so much love over this past year it is incredibly humbling. Without their support we would not have been able to relocate the 1,861 miles away from home with half of our family in St. Petersburg Florida and the other half in Pierre South Dakota.