​On May 31st 2012, I went to a routine prenatal appointment. I was 30 weeks pregnant. I told my midwife I had tachycardia and, she sent me to labor and delivery. Once there, the nurses weren't able to find my daughter's heart rate. The Ob came in and was able to find it. But, it was 60-80. I was told that my daughter was in distress and I needed an emergency c-section.

I was in shock. I could feel her kicking and moving around. I didn't understand what was wrong. My 5 years old was there with me. I tried to explain to her that the baby needed coming out and that a nurse would take care of her while the doctor took care of mami and baby sister. Meanwhile, the front office staff was trying to get a hold of my husband. On May 31st 2015, at 11:30 am, Charlie Victoria was born 10 weeks premature. She was transfered to the NICU at Children's Hospital at Providence, Anchorage, Alaska. The NICU staff was the most caring people on earth. They were our angels during the 6 weeks Charlie V was there.

They helped us understand that Charlie V wasn't in distress. She has a Complete Congenital Heartblock: a heart condition that develops due to lupus maternal antibodies crossing the placenta and, attacking her heart. The NICU doctors and nurses, social worker and parents navigator, pediatric cardiologist and electrophysiology team, front office team...I can't thank them enough. Charlie has a pacemaker now. She had surgery at 8 months.

She is a sassy, strong willed, brilliant 3 years old that loves princesses and play-doh. She will need pacemaker surgery/heart surgery the rest of her life, but she is showing all of us how brave and strong she is. She is our heart hero.

Angel Breha was taken care of by the Janet Weis Children's Hospital in Danville, PA for 3 weeks before my fiancée and I got involved with her as her foster parents.

She was diagnosed with cerebral palsy (with no swallow reflex) and I appreciate everything they did for her in those 3 weeks. The nursing staff was very excited the first day I went to see her, because due to her unfortunate situation of being in foster care she had no one to bond with.

They feared the toll this would take on her, she was already so fragile. I appreciate all they did to keep her healthy and socialized. As her foster parent I was going in to the NICU with absolutely no medical knowledge very much like a new mom. I was extremely scared and overwhelmed but the staff trained me on suctioning and G-tube care.

​With their encouragement I was confident enough to bring her home. She is almost 2 years old now and we recently adopted her!