Louisville family, doctors celebrate life of 2-year-old now thriving after being born with heart defect

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A serious diagnoses shattered a pair of new parents when they learned their little boy was born with a heart defect.

But thanks to doctors in Louisville, he's now thriving — laughing and living life to the fullest.

At first glance, Hudson Hogue is a normal, active two-year-old. Reading with his dad and swinging are just some of his favorite things, but they're also moments that are never taken for granted.

"This was our first pregnancy, our first child, so it immediately, the vision of what you expect it to be kind of goes away and you're thrust into this unknown," Hudson's mom, Jessica Hogue, said.

Before their son was born, the Jessica and Jarrod Hogue found out that he had a hole in his heart.

"You kind of go numb when you first get that news. You don't really know how to process (it)," said Jessica Hogue.

"I was like, nervous excitement already about being a first-time parent, and then you get that news. I was devastated," Jarrod Hogue said.

Around the same time they got that information, Jessica Hogue went into preterm labor and stayed at the hospital on bedrest, increasing Hudson's chance for survival.

Hudson was born nine weeks premature, weighing only three pounds, five ounces.

"He was much earlier than we anticipated, so we could not do the initial procedure that they had planned on doing," Jessica Hogue said.

The procedure, to repair Hudson's heart, would be too risky. Traditionally, doctors would have waited for him to grow and, in many cases, that doesn't work.

"When they have this heart disease, and that's not corrected, they go into heart failure and they just cannot feed, cannot grow," said Dr. Bahaaldin Alsoufi, with Norton Children's Hospital. "You have to keep them in the hospital. You have to keep them on IV medications and that can be associated with many complications."

So doctors at Norton Children's Hospital came up with a new plan. A unique, hybrid approach that would increase Hudson's chances, an approach that has only been done five times at the Louisville hospital.

At just 22 days old, Hudson underwent surgery to stabilize blood circulation to the lungs and putting a stent in, preventing him from needing a ventilator. Six months later, he underwent a second surgery to fully repair his heart.

Now, two years later, Hudson is hitting his milestones.

"He has really just taken off and progressed in an amazing way," Jarrod Hogue said.

Now, it might be just a bedtime story, or just another day at the park. But for the Hogues, it's watching their little boy grow up through a different lens.

"We don't take a day for granted, a second for granted, because there were times where we never thought we would see this, and we know that not every story has a happy ending, so we're very blessed and thankful and fortunate to be able to see him thriving like this," said Jessica Hogue.