Connecticut Children's Blog

Growing up means blazing your own trail. For the past 13 years, Connecticut Children’s has been watching Penny Ringrose do just that. Penny, who has Down syndrome, has been coming to Connecticut Children’s since the day she was born, when she was rushed to our nationally-ranked neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for a severe heart […]

One of the scariest parts of any health journey is the beginning: All you have are questions, and all you want are answers. Jennefer Aquavia and Paul Willis know that feeling. This past summer, their 10-year-old daughter, Morgan, starting having seizures – but not like any seizures they’d heard of before. The day they realized […]

One day last October, 15-year-old Lauren Riley was climbing the stairs to class at her West Hartford high school and felt it again: out of breath, dizzy and like she might faint. This was the third time in recent weeks she’d nearly fainted from a flight of stairs. Soon after, she started having belly pain, […]

If needed, even the tiniest babies and those with the most severe heart problems can undergo heart surgery at Connecticut Children’s – including via minimally invasive techniques like video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, or VATS. Helping lead the way is congenital cardiac surgeon Raina Sinha, MD, MPH, FACC, one of just 18 female pediatric cardiac surgeons practicing […]

At the age of 5, Jenna-Lee loves learning from her teachers at school and is excited to head back to the classroom this fall. She also loves dancing, playing piano and belting out her favorite songs. She can often be found helping to care for her younger brother, Indio, age 3, and engaging in spirited […]

Diana and Jarrod Perry remember sitting in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Connecticut Children’s, hearing that their newborn daughter needed open-heart surgery – and that her condition was so unique, specialists from the Divisions of Cardiac Surgery, Cardiology, Neonatology, General Surgery, Orthopedics and Plastic Surgery were working together to create a whole new […]

The American Heart Association recommends children ages 6 to 17 get at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day. Preschoolers and toddlers need even more than that. But it’s also winter in New England – which means it’s freezing outside.     Want more articles like this from pediatric experts you […]

Upon entering a room, here are some things that 3-year-old Vondel is likely to do: take off his shoes, start running laps and pause only to coax a smile out of whoever’s in range. He’s a trickster, say parents Jade and Douglas, and a natural comedian. The Cardiology and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) teams […]

At 2 and a half years old, Lincoln is a chatterbox, a flirt and in the words of mom Jennifer, “a ham and a half.” He is also the survivor of five congenital heart defects. “They ended up like family” Lincoln’s heart defects were discovered the day after he was born, in a routine oxygen […]

“The nurses and doctors were kind and told me what to expect after my son was born. But nothing can prepare you for the moment when you first realize you will not be able to hold your newborn,” Marisol shared while sitting in a Cardiology exam room at Connecticut Children’s. From the moment Marisol confirmed […]