Avery and his family who loves him so!

We learned that Avery had Tetralogy of Fallot the second day after he was born. We were devastated and scared for our little guy. He was born at 36 weeks but due to steroids because I went into very early labor, he was as big and beautiful as a full-term baby! The doctor’s immediately heard what they thought was a heart murmur and they referred us to a pediatric cardiologist who informed us the next day that our son had Tetralogy of Fallot. It took me months before I could talk about it without crying and over a year to openly talk about it with people, even family because I was so scared and sad for my son.

Our little Avery had surgery at 4 months old and recovered faster than the doctor’s expected. I am his mother and I love him SO much. He has taught me how to be strong and to overcome obstacles. He is now going on 4 years old and is incredibly smart. He’s loving and strong. I look forward to the many years that I’ll share with Avery. He has an older brother, Jaylen, who he adores and idolizes *smile*, a wonderful dad who adores him and now a new puppy to play with! He has never had an episode in relation to his heart condition. I had one scare when he was breathing different when he was an infant but he could have been playing and doing that himself, I am not sure. I called his doctor and his doctor told me to watch him and bring him in if the shortness of breath continued but it stopped on its own. Avery has been a typical infant, baby and toddler. Now he is heading to pre-school next year.

Avery gets checked every 6 months to a year to keep an eye on some blockage that was there after his surgery. However, at his last checkup, his doctor said that every thing looks great and the kind of blockage he sees, he actually prefers. He told me that Avery can even play sports if he wants to but to warm him up before each practice and game. I am still a bit nervous about this but I was glad to hear that my son was doing well.

I hope to get involved with programs to help other scared parents because while the programs were most likely out there for me, I didn’t feel like I had anywhere to turn. I felt all alone and I want parents to know that they are not alone.

We love you, Avery!