April 20, 2026

Our story started with an HLHS diagnosis at 20 weeks – after they couldn’t get good images at our routine anatomy scan we were sent for a fetal echo and received Archer’s diagnosis. So we were grieving what we thought life would be like for half of my pregnancy. Monthly fetal echo’s, a visit to L&D on New Year’s Eve for decreased movement, and making plans for our 2 girls while we would be in the hospital with Archer took away a lot of the joy of being pregnant.

Archer arrived on Jan 25 and I am still grateful for the 10ish minutes of skin to skin I got with him before he was taken to the NICU to get started on the medication that would keep him alive until his surgery.

We were transferred via air ambulance to the hospital where his open heart surgery would happen – which took place at 4 days old. After surgery he rocked recovery and 9 days later we were transferred back to our local NICU, where Archer continued to recover smoothly. After 5 weeks in the NICU we started talking about discharge and I got trained up on his meds, particular things to watch for with his CHD and prepared to go home for a few months before his second surgery. He passed all of his discharge exams and we even got the NICU Graduate certificate.

Archer died on March 6, 2026 – his Discharge Day. That part of our story may take a long time for me to share here.

We knew with his HLHS that he might not survive – but assumed that he would be sick or struggling before. Not fine one minute and gone the next.

I held him in my arms for 40 days, but I’ll hold him in my heart forever.