Did you know....

that tomorrow is not only Valentine's Day, it's Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Day? And why do we need CHD Awareness Day? Because I was once a person who had no clue what Congenital Heart Defects were. And in reality, most of you reading this were too until you met our Lydia. So in light of our big day tomorrow, here are a few eye-opening statistics I want to share with you.

-Congential Heart Defects are America's #1 Birth defect. Nearly 1 in every 100 babies is born with a CHD.

-Sometimes during early pregnancy, a baby's heart fails to form properly, resulting in structural abnormalities known as Congenital Heart Defects. Although some defects are genetic, in many cases the cause is unknown.

-It is estimated that 40,000 babies with Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) are born in the United States each year. More than 1 million American children and adults with Congenital Heart Defects and Childhood Onset Heart Disease are alive today.

-CHD is the most frequently occurring birth defect, and is the leading cause of birth-defect related deaths.

-Although some babies will be diagnosed at birth, sometimes the diagnosis is not made until days, weeks, months, or even years after. In some cases, CHDs are not detected until adolescence or adulthood.

-Some CHDs may not require treatment other than periodic visits to a Pediatric Cardiologist. Others can be treated with medications or repaired with surgery and/or procedures. Complex defects may require several surgeries and are never really "cured".

-Many cases of sudden cardiac death in young athletes are caused by undiagnosed CHDs and Childhood Onset Heart Disease.

-It is estimated that more adults than children are living with congenital heart disease, and this population is expected to grow by 5% each year. Yet, many adults with CHD are not receiving adequate ongoing care from trained specialists

-For every dollar provided by the national medical funding arm of the American government, the National Institute of Health, only one penny is provided for pediatric research, and only a portion of that penny goes to support research on heart defects, the most common birth defect.

-How is our family spending the day?

Because of our awesome group, Levine Cardiac Kids, and the generous people who have donated money, we get to spend the morning at the Build-A-Bear Workshop! Each CHD child and their sibling(s) will get the opportunity to build their own special bear and will be given a "Levine Cardiac Kids" t-shirt for their new furry friend to wear. This event is taking place at a very large mall and will get a lot of publicity. We are so excited about it and as you can imagine, Lydia and Caleb have been looking forward to this for a VERY long time! Oh, and did I mention we get a catered Chick-fil-A breakfast as well? (Yum!) It's going to be a fun day!