The Mendez Family

Scroll down to see updates as the Mendez family progresses in their CDH Journey! (All updates are written and given by parents with consent)

Inital Backstory

We are the Mendez family, a family of 6. My husband And I have 2 biologically kids and our niece and nephew that we took in. I always wanted one more baby but after adding two more I didn't think that would happen but 7 years later here we are . When we find out I was expecting my husband, kids and myself were overcome with happiness to add to our family. Unfortunately At our 20 week ultrasound we were told that there may be something wrong with his stomach and that we would need to see a specialist. Two weeks later we were able to see a specialist where we were told that our unborn son had Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH). We had never heard of this and were overcome with emotions. The next month we were overwhelmed with information but have made the decision to relocate to Houston to deliver our son. We are grateful and remain in faith that everything will be ok and we will have a positive outcome. 

Update 1/28/25

I had my 34 week appointment yesterday 01/27. His heart continues to look good and we saw him practicing his breathing. He is growing! They plan on inducing me February 24th.

Update 2/28/25

I was induced on Tuesday 2/24/25. Everything was going good. They checked me to see how far I was dilated and was 6cm, while the checked me they noticed baby boy was breached and his heart rate was spiking and my heart rate was dropping. They decided we needed to do an emergency C-section. At 8:20PM my son Samuel was born in didn't get to hold him They had to take him and stabilize him. I got to see him for a quick minute. Almost  24hours after giving birth o got to see him. It's not how you would like to see your child but he was doing good and I knew he was in good hands. 

Update 3/28/25

Samuel is doing well. He is completely off ventilators and is breathing all on his own. On March 19th he had a ND tube put in to help him with feeds and he is also working on bottle feeding. So far he is getting the hang of it. He is able to wear clothes now and I enjoy picking out his outfits everyday. He also turned one month old on the 24th of March, he is getting so big! 

Update 4/25/25

Hello baby Samuel is better. We are still working on him taking the bottle and not spitting up. We're trying to avoid getting the Gtube. Praying we don't have to go that route. He is 2 months old.

Update 5/27/25

On May 22nd the doctors removed his NG Tube, since you seemed to be taking all his bottles. He has good days and bad days but he is getting there! Almost!!