Adalyn Blaszyk

Another featured fighter for this year’s cause of the Herma Heart Institute is Adalyn. She was born on January 11, 2022 at only 28 weeks gestation due to her mom’s severe pre-eclampsia. Although she was premature and admitted to the NICU immediately, she was strong and doing well.

Shortly after birth, the doctors diagnosed her with Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) which means that she had a hole in her heart. According to cdc.gov, about 1 in 42 babies in the United States are born with VSD each year. The severity of VSD varies and not all babies require intervention. Adalyn was transferred from the NICU at Mt. Sinai hospital to Children’s Wisconsin on March 11.

Adalyn’s new team at Children’s Wisconsin thought surgery was the best route because of the size of the hole. It’s typically recommended that the patient is at least 8lbs at the time of surgery. However, Adalyn was not gaining weight fast enough because the VSD was making it difficult for her to finish her bottles. The team at Herma Heart Institute were confident in their ability to perform the surgery before she reached 8lbs.

The surgery took place on March 28 when Adalyn was only 6lbs, 10oz. With hard work from the doctors and nurses and Adalyn’s strength, the surgery was successful. After spending a couple of weeks recovering, Adalyn’s family worked with doctors and nurses to learn how to best care for Adalyn once she got home. She was discharged from the hospital on April 11 and continues to thrive.

Her family has nothing but great things to say about all of the staff at Children’s Wisconsin. They are so grateful for all of the hard work and dedication it took to get Adalyn healthy and send her home.