Bailey was born in December 2004 and came home from the hospital as a healthy little girl. At 2 weeks old her doctor heard a heart murmur during a routine office visit and we were sent to a pediatric cardiologist to make sure that nothing serious was going on. The cardiologist noticed that indeed something was wrong; Bailey had an interrupted aortic arch and a VSD. She was rushed to Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

At 3 weeks old, Bailey had open heart surgery to repair her heart and she was diagnosed with 22Q11. Since then we have been on a roller coaster ride dealing with the physical and emotional challenges that 22Q presents. Bailey has battled from the start with chronic ear and sinus infections as well as hearing loss. She started speech therapy when she was 9 months old and continues to work hard on that to this date. Bailey has responded wonderfully to early intervention tackling all of her challenges with a can-do attitude and today she is a happy and spirited 7-year-old, who loves school, art and playing the piano.