Meet Adelena. She was diagnosed with an AVSD or atrioventricular septal defect after her 20 week anatomy scan. The ultrasound was unable to get a 4 chamber heart view so they referred Kristy (mom) to have a fetal echo. Kristy wrote: “After finding out about Adelena’s heart defect, we instantly had the support from the staff at UPMC Children’s Heart Institute and they helped educate and reassure us of what was to come.”

On 2/21/23 Adelena was delivered at UPMC Magee Women’s Hospital. She was taken to the NICU about an hour after birth to get checked out and monitored. After 3 days, we were both discharged and able to go home. Adelena was closely monitored by her pediatrician and by her cardiologist at CHP. At 2 months old, it was decided that she would undergo surgery to correct and repair her AVSD once she turned 4 months old. She had to take medicine and be seen weekly by her doctors to make sure she was gaining weight. We even had to fortify her milk to add extra calories to make it to the 4 month goal.

On July 6, 2023 Adelena had her surgery to repair her AVSD. After 6 days of recovering and working on feeds with her NG tube, she was able to have the NG tube removed and we were discharged home. Since then, Adelena has steadily come off medication and has shown a night and day improvement before her repair. Her weight is up, energy level is way up and she is having so much fun playing with her brother. She is still on heart medication and continues to follow up at Children’s. The heart journey is full of a beautiful resiliency that unleashes an unknown strength all while having support from everyone around you at UPMC Children’s Hospital.