One Out of One Hundred

Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week is February 7-14, 2011. CHD's are the number one birth defect in the country, and occur in approximately 1 out of every 100 births! CHD Awareness Week is an annual campaign to help educate the public about Congenital Heart Defects. Participants include individuals, local support groups, national and local organizations and congenital cardiology centers throughout the world.

This is my one out of one hundred, Sophia. She is two and a half years old and has lived longer than many of us adults. Many of you have seen the face of Sophia and some even know that she is a heart patient, but she is so much more than that. She is a ray of sunshine, she is a fireball, she is exactly like her mother! I went through my pregnancy (after finding out about her defects) not only praying for what was to come, but getting praise for the strength I showed at what was to come. After looking at this sweet face, how could you not have an inner strength and faith? I loved the name Sophia and them my sister told me about the middle name Mackenzie. I loved it because it went well with Sophia, but then I saw that meant born with fire. I knew with that meaning I was going to have a fighter on my hand. And boy do I! So you may see the statistics of heart defects or babies born with heart defects, but I wanted you to also see the face!