Today is Cassidy's one year anniversary of her surgery - a perfect day for a bike ride!

Cassidy had open heart surgery on July 8th to correct her Truncus Arteriosus, and spent 48 hours recovering in the CICU at Children's Hospital. She transferred to the CPCU and spent an additional 5 days recovering. We came home July 15th and will continue to help her recuperate, grow, and develop at HOME!

Cassidy Joy had a bit of a traumatic entry into this world via a somewhat emergency c-section. We knew her lungs would be immature due to a low score on her amnio 4 days earlier, and we were prepared mentally to have a baby that might have to stay in the NICU for a few days. How little did we know just how long our NICU stay was going to be! Day 4 of Cassidy's life, she was diagnosed with Truncus Arteriosus, a very rare congenital heart defect. We were just coming to terms with this diagnosis, and the steps that we would have to take to get her to a place where her body would be ready for open heart surgery, when on day 7 of life, she developed necrotizing enterocolitis. We were quickly transferred to The Children's Hospital, where she had to remain off feeds for 10 days, but managed to avoid corrective surgery for the NEC. On March 8th, we were discharged from Children's Hospital to go home and get Cassidy growing before she returns to Children's for open heart surgery. While we were home, we try to make the most of our time together as a family! We were still seeing doctors and specialists on a weekly (and sometimes more!) basis, and we worried a bit more about every little thing than the average parent of a newborn. But we treasured those months of time together, knowing that soon enough we would be back to living in a hospital room, praying for the health of our fragile baby! On July 8th, 2010, Cassidy recieved a Contegra valve replacement conduit to help her heart function normally. She still has a small VSD and ASD/PFO that we are hoping will repair themselves as her heart heals. She is experiencing some pulmonary hypertension as a result of her repair, which we thought should correct itself in the next couple of months, but is still an issue a year later. She is also still on continuous oxygen to help with some lung damage from surgeries, aspiration, and just some lung anomalies. While she will never be completely out of the woods, she is well on the road towards living a "normal" life, and for that we are so very grateful!

She has come a long, long way in the year since her operation! She is walking, signing many words, playing, loving on all of us and her kitty, and is just an absolute joy to be around. We cannot imagine life without this precious gift. She is still extremely tiny, just a little over 17 pounds at 17 months! But she doesn't let her size slow her down. She recently had g-tube surgery as well to hopefully help her gain a little weight in preparation for her valve replacement which will probably be in the next 9-10 months. We just keep pressing on through the challenges, and try our best to give her the best opportunities. She loves playing outside, going for walks, seeing the dogs in the neighborhood (no, she can't have a puppy even though she would love one, lol), going to the zoo, swimming, everything that an average child would enjoy. And even though we have to take a bit more along in the way of supplies, it doesn't stop us from getting out and exploring all that life has to offer her! I would just like to encourage everyone to hug your kiddos extra tight, and be thankful for each and every moment you are afforded with them!