one day old.

Darla Jane's first day of life started off the same as most newborns, after going 5 hours straight of sleep in her first night. She was taken in the morning to be given the routine check up from the pediatrician. She looked healthy with just one concern. A slight murmur in her heart. While she was being examined by the pediatrician she just also happened to be next to the cardio specialist who just suggested they run an ultra sound just to check. But she was brought back to me and told it was most likely nothing, that lots of babies have little murmurs that just clear up on their own. So little miss got to spend the first part of the afternoon back in our room. Spending more good time with her sisters, brother, parents and Geeg. The kids then left to get lunch and I got a fun chance to do a little photo shoot. Which I am so thankful for now. Because not long after that they took her down to do the ultra sound and she was not brought back to the room after that. That is when our world started spinning. Nathan had gone down to be with her during the procedure and following the cardiologist wanted to talk to him. He was told that the left side of Darla Jane's heart wasn't functioning that the she needed to be stabilized and taken up as soon as possible to Primary Children's Medical Center up in Salt Lake City. Thankfully they were able to get the ok from my doctor and less than 24 hours after giving birth I was able to leave the hospital and ride up with her to Primarys. After a little time in the nicu at Utah Valley we were ready and on our way to Primarys.

Once we got to Primarys they got her settled and ran xrays, ultra sounds and an echo to find out exactly what was going on.

After the tests were done the information started. Little Darla Jane was diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS). What it means is that the left side of her heart was not developed and was completely non-functional. Here is a link that might help you understand what she has.