The Swick Family

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

Initial Backstory

At our 20-week ultrasound, we were filled with joy when we learned we were expecting a baby girl. The excitement was overwhelming — imagining tiny bows, sweet snuggles, and the bond she’d share with her big brother. But by the end of that appointment, our joy was met with worry. Doctors had noticed something concerning, and we were told our daughter might have a birth defect.

A few weeks later, we traveled to Promedica Hospital in Toledo, OH, where we met with a maternal-fetal medicine specialist. It was there that we received the diagnosis: Scottie has Left Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (LCDH).

From that moment, our journey changed. We were referred to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, one of the best places for CDH care. At 34 weeks pregnant, I relocated to Cincinnati to be close to the hospital, while my husband and our two-year-old son traveled back and forth to be with me. It’s been a challenging time, filled with uncertainty, but also with love, strength, and hope.

We are still waiting for Scottie’s arrival, and while we know the road ahead will be tough — filled with surgeries, NICU stays, and many unknowns — we are so excited to meet our brave little girl. She’s already shown us how strong she is, and we’re ready to walk this journey with her, hand in hand.

Update 10/3/25

We got to welcome our sweet girl into this world on October 2nd. Now we begin the next phase of this journey.

Update 10/29/25

The first weeks of Scottie’s life have been a whirlwind. She’s truly been on a roller coaster. Scottie was born on October 2nd, and by October 4th her medical team made the decision to place her on ECMO for additional support. On her third day of life, she underwent her hernia repair. During surgery, they discovered that her defect was more in the moderate-to-severe range, rather than mild as originally hoped. After her repair, she began exceeding everyone’s expectations and they were able to take her off ECMO. However, once she was off, her numbers declined and the team determined she needed that extra support again. She returned to ECMO about a day and a half later, but this time she was able to come off in less than a week — a huge step forward. Since then, she has continued to do well. She recently had another surgery to close her belly, since there wasn’t enough skin to do so during her initial repair. Now the focus is on slowly weaning her oxygen support and continuing to work on feeding — all meaningful steps on her journey.

Update 11/30/25

"Scottie is officially off oxygen support and doing great! Our next big milestone is learning to take a bottle. Hopefully everything goes smoothly and we’ll be able to go home soon!"

Update 12/26/25

After 62 days in the NICU, Scottie is finally home! She came home with a feeding tube, and we’re working toward bottle feeds. She has been doing so well, and we are beyond grateful to have her home where she belongs.