Rooting for our Fighting Iris!

Many of you know that Meredith and Cody endured several health scares throughout Meredith’s pregnancy. At 20 and 25 weeks, their daughter, Iris, was diagnosed with intrauterine growth restriction and a congenital heart defect that would require surgery. A time that should have been filled with joy was often filled with grief as there were instances they were told that nothing could be done once she were to be born and that their time with her would be very limited. After an appointment and echocardiogram on June 16th, Meredith was admitted to the hospital so her team could continue to monitor her and the baby. During Meredith’s hospital stay, Iris decided to quickly enter the world on July 1st. Born 5 weeks early, Iris weighed 3 lb. 15 oz.

Immediately after she was born, Iris was transferred to Arkansas Children's Hospital where she was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect called Coarctation of the Aorta.

Iris has spent the first two months of her life in the NICU hooked up to a ventilator and receiving lifesaving medications. Earlier this week on September 5th, Iris underwent a full aortic arch repair, which was a major surgery on bypass. Her amazing team of doctors and nurses said Iris did great on her big day!

We are so very thankful for Iris’s amazing team at Arkansas Children’s and are relieved to say they are confident it was a successful surgery.

She is currently in recovery in the CVICU (Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit). There isn’t a timeline on her remaining recovery and we aren’t sure yet when Cody and Meredith will get to take her home.

Your support and contributions during their journey will be met with the utmost gratitude! This will help assist with medical expenses (past, current and future) as well as food and gas as Iris will continue to be in the hospital for many more weeks. Thank you for your outpouring love and prayers as we all continue to keep rooting for fighting Iris! ❤️