Half the Heart, Twice the Fight

ZAKARIYA'S HEART JOURNEY

Welcome to Zakariya's Heart Journey!

This page was created to help spread awareness for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (known as HLHS) and to update friends and family on our son, Zakariya, and his condition as he starts his journey living with half a heart. Feel free to explore the site and learn more about our son and HLHS.

Our mission is to further understanding of congenital heart defects, HLHS, and keep everyone updated on Zaki's progress. Hopefully, this page will inspire others as well.

THE FULL STORY ON HYPOPLASTIC LEFT HEART SYNDROME

ABOUT HLHS

Hypoplastic (pronounced hi-puh-PLAS-tik) left heart syndrome, or HLHS, is a birth defect that affects normal blood flow through the heart.

What is HLHS?

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is a birth defect that affects normal blood flow through the heart. As the baby develops during pregnancy, the left side of the heart does not form correctly. Hypoplastic left heart syndrome is one type of congenital heart defect. (CHD) Congenital means present at birth.

HLHS affects a number of structures on the left side of the heart that do not fully develop, for example:

The left ventricle is underdeveloped and too small.
The mitral valves is not formed or is very small.
The aortic valve is not formed or is very small.
The ascending portion of the aorta is underdeveloped or is too small.
Often, babies with HLHS also have an atrial septal defect, which is a hole between the left and right upper chambers (atria) of the heart.

Occurrence

The CDC estimates that each year about 960 babies in the United States are born with HLHS. In other words, about 1 out of every 4,344 babies born in the United States each year is born with HLHS.

Click Here to Learn More

To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

A NEW PATH IN LIFE

FINDING OUT THAT OUR BABY HAS HLHS

As most mothers already know, not much happens in the first trimester OBGYN visits (beside the 8 week ultrasound). However, we would soon learn to miss these normal visits in the weeks to come.

On April 21, 2017, we scheduled our second ultrasound. By now I was 19 weeks pregnant and the baby was big enough to see the gender! We went to the appointment with high anticipation . . . During our baby's anatomy scan, the technician mentioned that it was hard to get a good image of everything because the baby was moving too much but that it was very common. In the office visit with our OBGYN she expressed the same casual concern and assured us it was probably because of the baby's position making it hard to see all 4 heart chambers and that we should see a specialist for a follow-up ultrasound soon.

At the peak of all this excitement, we went to the second ultrasound at another hospital on May 1, 2017 at 20 wk and 3 days. After a long, silent hour the ultrasound was complete but the MFM was still unable to see all the chambers of his heart.

It felt like our beautiful picture of a perfect baby was crashing down... but there was still a chance that they were wrong . . .

Click here to read full story

FUNDRAISING

HELP SAVE ZAKARIYA BY DONATING OR BUYING MERCHANDISE

Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome is a complex congenital heart defect that puts a huge financial strain on the families.

While there is currently no known cause or cure for HLHS any money donated will go directly to supporting Zakariya or toward the funding research and finding a cure!

ZAKARIYA'S GOFUNDME

HELP US RAISE MONEY -- ANY DONATION CAN HELP

Help save Zakariya by donating! There will be many stresses and obstacles in the road ahead. Being the parents of an HLHS baby takes an economic and emotional toll, but you can help relieve some of the financial burden. No amount is too small. May God reward you for your best intention and all of your love and support!

Zakariya's GoFundMe Site

SCENTSY PARTY FUNDRAISER

PURCHASE SCENTSY AND HELP US RAISE MONEY

For a limited time, we will receive 20% of all sales from our Scentsy Party purchases!!!

The party name is: Zakariya's Heart Journey

The consultant is: Kaegan Verret

(click below for link to online store)

Scentsy products are simple, beautiful, and a SAFE alternative to candles. Scentsy creates beautiful hand-made pieces of pottery (warmers) that use a low-watt light bulb to warm the wax, providing the wonderful fragrance of candle with NO WORRIES! Scentsy products are SAFE for children and pets! The Scentsy Candle Bar (wax) comes in many colors and 80 different scents!

Scentsy bars are just $5 each, you can afford to have a variety of scents. Warmers range from $20.00- $35.00

Fundraiser ends on AUGUST 15!

Click Here to Order