It's My Heart Walk - Team ALIVIA!

Last year, my sweet niece Alivia was born. At 5 weeks old, she was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect called Coarctation of the Aorta. After several procedures, open heart surgery and lots of time at the hospital, our little angel is doing well! Here she is - happy and smiling at 8 months old!

My sister Cara organized a team to walk for the It's My Heart Walk this year to raise money and awareness about congenital heart defects. We had a pretty good sized team! We all wore little signs that had team Alivia on them...

I didn't get very many pictures - but cut me a little slack. I walked 2 miles at 7 months pregnant when I haven't exactly been keeping in shape with this pregnancy!

Cami and Colby made the 2 miles look way too easy!

Our attempts at a picture didn't work so well...

Colby just wanted to run around the park and play with his balloon!
Here are some CHD facts if you are interested:

• Congenital Heart Defects are the #1 birth defect. Source: March of Dimes
• Congenital Heart Defects are the #1 cause of birth defect related deaths. Source: March of Dimes
• About 1 out of every 100 babies are born each year with some type of Congenital Heart Defect. (approx. 40,000/year) Source: Children’s Heart Foundation
• Nearly twice as many children die from Congenital Heart Defects in the United States each year as from all forms of childhood cancers combined, yet funding for pediatric cancer research is five times higher than funding for CHD. Source: Children’s Heart Foundation
• The American Heart Association directs only $0.30 of every dollar donated toward research. The remainder goes toward administration, education and fundraising efforts. Of the $0.30 that goes toward research only $0.01 goes toward pediatric cardiology for CHD. Source: Children’s Heart Foundation
• This year approximately 4,000 babies will not live to see their first birthday because of Congenital Heart Defects. Source: Children’s Heart Foundation
• The cost for inpatient surgery to repair Congenital Heart Defects exceeds $2.2 billion a year. Source: Children’s Heart Foundation
• Of every dollar the government spends on medical funding only a fraction of a penny is directed toward Congenital Heart Defect research. Source: Children’s Heart Foundation
• Though research is ongoing, at least 35 defects have now been identified.
  4-8% born with CHD have Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome
  4-10% born with CHD have Atrioventricular Septal Defects
  8-11% born with CHD have Coarctation of the Aorta
  9-14% born with CHD have Tetralogy of Fallot
  10-11% born with CHD have Transposition of the Great Arteries
  14-16% born with CHD have Ventricular Septal Defects
• Although some babies will be diagnosed during gestation or at birth, sometimes the diagnosis is not made until days, weeks, months, or even years after. In some cases, CHD is not detected until adolescence or adulthood. Source: March of Dimes
• It is a proven fact that the earlier CHD is detected and treated, it is more likely the affected child will survive and have less long term health complications. Source: March of Dimes

February is Heart Month - show some love!