{"id":116,"date":"2026-02-09T01:57:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T01:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforlainey\/?p=116"},"modified":"2026-02-09T03:00:43","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T03:00:43","slug":"learn-about-laineys-heart-this-congenital-heart-disease-awareness-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforlainey\/2026\/02\/09\/learn-about-laineys-heart-this-congenital-heart-disease-awareness-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Learn about Lainey\u2019s Heart this Congenital Heart Disease Awareness Week!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforlainey\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6697\/2026\/02\/Learn-About-Laineys-Heart-2-1024x427.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-120\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforlainey\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6697\/2026\/02\/Learn-About-Laineys-Heart-2-1024x427.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforlainey\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6697\/2026\/02\/Learn-About-Laineys-Heart-2-300x125.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforlainey\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6697\/2026\/02\/Learn-About-Laineys-Heart-2-768x320.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforlainey\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6697\/2026\/02\/Learn-About-Laineys-Heart-2-1536x640.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforlainey\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6697\/2026\/02\/Learn-About-Laineys-Heart-2-2048x853.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Baby Lainey was born six weeks early in August 2025. In November, she was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect, \u2728coarctation of the aorta\u2728. The aorta is narrowed, so the left ventricle has to work harder to pump blood to the body. Blood can backup into the left side of the heart, limiting the blood pumped to the body. This required surgical repair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite surgery, her heart continued to weaken, and she was diagnosed with \u2728dilated cardiomyopathy\u2728 and heart failure. Her left ventricle struggles to pump blood to the body. The left atrium and left ventricle become enlarged. Blood can backup into the lungs, making it difficult to breathe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She now relies on a \u2728Berlin Heart\u2728 (LVAD) that is giving the left ventricle time to rest and heal. \u2764\ufe0f\u200d\ud83e\ude79 Blood is drained from the left ventricle and pumped into the aorta to go to the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lainey was placed on the pediatric heart transplant list on January 16, 2026, where she continues to wait for her hero heart. \u2764\ufe0f<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Baby Lainey was born six weeks early in August 2025. In November, she was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect, \u2728coarctation of the aorta\u2728. The aorta is narrowed, so the left ventricle has to work harder to pump blood to the body. Blood can backup into the left side of the heart, limiting the blood [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2432,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v26.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Learn about Lainey\u2019s Heart this Congenital Heart Disease Awareness Week! - COTA for Lainey<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cota.org\/cotaforlainey\/2026\/02\/09\/learn-about-laineys-heart-this-congenital-heart-disease-awareness-week\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Learn about Lainey\u2019s Heart this Congenital Heart Disease Awareness Week!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Baby Lainey was born six weeks early in August 2025. 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