Hudson is 5 months old!

Hudson's Story

Sitting around a conference room table is not an unfamiliar place for me. I’ve done it for years for my job but this was a different experience that made me sick to my stomach. Once again my husband and I were talking to the brightest minds in our country about our son’s health and the news was very grim. They couldn’t even give us statistics for survival as they had not seen his specific case before.

Meet our son…

Our incredibly precious and strong baby boy, Hudson Sylvestre was born six weeks premature on July 17, 2015 with a condition called hypoplastic left heart syndrome, meaning he only has half a heart. With just two days’ notice, our family had to leave our home, jobs, church and family in North Carolina to relocate to Philadelphia to save our son’s life. In addition to his congenital heart defect, Hudson has also experienced several other life threatening conditions that required intervention even while in the womb.

In the delivery room the doctors offered for the hospital chaplain to come and quickly baptize our son and a photographer to get pictures in case we weren’t able to see him alive. To everyone’s surprise Hudson is breathing on his own after going into cardiac arrest and then being on life support.

Hudson has undergone open heart surgery and liver surgery as well as suffering through a life threatening infection in his stomach two different times. Our Hudson is an incredible fighter and is now three months old and in the cardiac intensive care unit at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). He will remain under CHOP’s care until he is big enough for his second open heart surgery which means we will be away from home for at least several more months. We are so deeply thankful for the expert care he is receiving.

There are not sufficient words to express our gratitude to God, to the many family members, friends, churches and even strangers who have cared for us during such a painful time. Strangers have welcomed us into their homes, loaned us cars, donated food and funds. We love our sweet Hudson so much and we would have already been devastated without the support of others.

We ask you to join us in prayer for Hudson’s life and health. Thankfully he is stable now and is such a cutie. Check out his cheeks!

Hope lives here!

Romans 5:3-5

We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,  and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

With grateful hearts,

Corey, Amy & Big brother Graham

PS I’ve often said that if tears healed babies, our son would be whole.

To join Hudson’s journey, visit his page:

https://www.facebook.com/hudsonsheart/

https://www.gofundme.com/havehalfaheart

Tax Deductible Giving for Hudson

A dear friend got us in touch with Helping Hands Ministry and they have approved Hudson as one of their projects. They will accept tax deductible financial gifts on behalf of Hudson that will be used for his medical expenses now and in the future. A receipt is mailed to giver.

Below is the link and explanation for how to make a tax deductible donation through Helping Hands for Hudson:

• Website: www.hhmin.org.  
• Select Donate to a Helping Hands Approved Project
• Select Project Category: Medical
• Scroll to the Project Name-Sylvestre, Hudson

To learn more about Hudson's journey and need:
www.facebook.com/hudsonsheart

Hudson is 4 Months Old!!

Hudson is now four months old. That means he has been in the cardiac intensive care unit for 124 days since birth (plus another couple weeks in utero)! 

What a miracle this little man is! His physical therapist says he is doing great and meeting goals like getting more control of his head and grabbing for things he sees.

He currently weighs 10 and 1/2 pounds....yippee!

Hudson has had a lot of challenges and they aren't over but we are seeing him grow even in the midst of a cold and infections. 

More prayers for a stable blood pressure, great liver function & lower bilirubin, more growth, ability to tolerate more milk, lots of stability, no more infections, wisdom for his doctors and preparation for another open heart surgery in the months to come.

We love our Hudson!

Hudson shirt says it all! What a miracle!

A little tummy time!

One of this Hudson's caring nurses made this sweet sign for our sweet boy's special day!

Why I Cry on My Birthday

A birthday can bring many emotions. I don't know about you, but I cry at least a little almost every year on my birthday. There are many reasons this has happened over the years. Some significant, some silly. Yesterday I was taking a walk and thinking about my life, my family, friends. You. Reflecting on so many things and of course, the tears came.

Over the years, I've cried on my birthday...

because I was single
because a certain person didn't call
because my heart was broken
because of the friends who surrounded me
because I was away from people I love
because I laughed so hard
because I felt lonely or misunderstood
because I was leaving for Africa the next day
because I felt fat and had nothing to wear


I cry on my birthday this year...

for Hudson...that we still have you and you are stable!
for my super fun Graham
because its my first bday without any grandparents
for my cousin who only got 37 years
(we miss you, Darin! I shouldn't get older than my big cousin.)
for my husband's dreams of flying
for being so far from home
for my career
out of thankfulness for God's provision
for the sacrifices my friends and family have made for us
for the "love of my life" birthday card from my handsome husband
for the card from the CHOP nurses and my sweet mother and father-in law
for the card and flowers
for all the messages, posts and texts
for Paris...oh Paris

The tears come from joy, sadness and being overwhelmed.

I'm a loved girl.
Thanks for a great 37th bday!

Hope lives here.

So my family and I have been at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) since June 29th (minus 3 days I went home to North Carolina for work and to sort out a few important details). I had Hudson on July 17th and he has been in the cardiac intensive care unit since.

On the day of so many tests and attempts at a diagnosis, I sat in their diagnostics center and the Special Delivery Unit for many hours. You can't be at CHOP long without seeing their logo and tagline.

I teared up in that lobby as I read those words, "Hope lives here." 

Our sweet Hudson has overcome so much during the three months of his little life and the obstacles aren't over. But, the first time I read their tagline I didn't know if I'd ever even get to meet our sweet boy alive. I desperately wanted their tagline to be true.

 (One day I'll take the time to tell the story of his birth and the miracle that was.)

For now, I want to talk about hope.

Hope: a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen; a feeling of trust

I've had moments of hope and moments of despair. The idea of hope and even the word "hope" typically leave us feeling positive but this tagline leaves out how hope is produced in us.

Romans 5:1-5

1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 

2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 

3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 

4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.

5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

So where does hope come from?

Suffering. 

Perseverance. 

Character. 

HOPE.

I HATE this chain reaction. His ways are not our ways. Not MY ways.

But, hope comes from suffering.

Ultimately we are left with going back to verse 2.

"Rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." That's our ultimate HOPE. 

Jesus.

I'm telling myself this more than I'm telling you.

Hudson is 3 Months Old!!

Our miracle baby is three months old! Hudson is still having major challenges but he is here and we are honored to be his parents. He has the cutest, kissable cheeks and we joke that he sometimes looks like a grumpy old man when he wrinkles up his little nose.

He is so precious and such a tangible miracle. We love him and want the very best for our boy.

Here's his big brother, Graham:

Hudson is so special that he's making news!

This image was on the hood of our friend's race car. So fun and incredibly thoughtful. Thanks, Davin & Kelley!

"Uncle Neil" is going to be sporting this awesome shirt when he runs the New York Marathon the first weekend of November! We love you, Neil!!

Our dear friends held a lemonade stand and bake sale for our sweet boy. We love you, Lily, Abby and Nathan! You are so good to us!

Here's a recent video of our Hudson:

Happy Two Months, Hudson!

Our special boy is two months old today!

While celebrating milestones is wonderful for every child, our boy is a miracle baby and to still have him is simply pure joy. We are continuing to pray for strength, health, stability, growth and more miracles for our little Hudson.

Three Generations of Sylvestre Men!

Our sweet Lily Galphin is so generous and thoughtful!! Love you, sweet girl!

Exactly Two Months Old...taken today

The nurses at CHOP are phenomenal and our boy has stolen so many of their hearts. In fact, they come by and visit him even when they aren't assigned to care for him. A group of nurses nicknamed him their "Huddy Buddy". So cute!

Happy Two Months, sweet boy!

Thank you, Jesus, for Hudson. We love him dearly!