Tiny Little Hearts Podcast: CHD and Heart Mom Life
Tiny Little Hearts Podcast is your honest, unfiltered space for the CHD (congenital heart disease / congenital heart defect) community. Whether you're a heart parent, a CHD warrior, or someone newly navigating a complex congenital heart diagnosis — this podcast was made for you.
Hosted by Katelyn McMahan, a mom of three girls whose world changed the moment she learned her youngest daughter had complex cardiac abnormalities. She searched for real stories — kids with complex CHD, single ventricle hearts, hypoplastic left heart syndrome, and other congenital heart defects— not the polished highlight reels, but the honest, raw truth of what this life actually looks like. She wanted to prepare her heart for the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Each episode features conversations with heart parents, CHD adults, providers, and others navigating the deeply real world of congenital heart disease, open heart surgery, and medical complexity. You'll hear practical advice, emotional honesty, and stories that remind you that you are not alone in this journey. Because this life is hard — and you deserve a place to feel seen.
Topics covered include: CHD diagnosis, heart surgery recovery, parenting a medically complex child, grief and resilience, NICU and PCICU experiences, fontan circulation, cardiac catheterization, and life after a congenital heart defect diagnosis.
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Tiny Little Hearts Podcast: CHD and Heart Mom Life
13. When “Fed is Best”- Our Feeding Journey From Tube to Table
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In this personal episode, host Katelyn shares details about the feeding journey- from challenges to small wins with her daughter Goldie, who was born with congenital heart defects (CHDs). From navigating tube dependence to completing an intensive feeding therapy program, Katelyn opens up about one of the most isolating aspects of caring for a medically complex child. If you're a heart parent or anyone dealing with pediatric feeding challenges, this episode offers hope, practical insights, and the reminder that you're not alone through any of these isolating tasks you now assume as a medical parent. Katelyn discusses how the prenatal diagnosis shaped the feeding plans, especially having struggled through the societal demands of “breast is best” with her oldest daughter and talks through the evolution of Goldie’s feeding and nutrition journey– from tube to completing an intensive feeding therapy program that kick started the tube weaning process. She talks about setting appropriate expectations for yourself and your child, what false hopes she experienced throughout the beginning stages of a feeding tube, and how she shaped her perspectives and managed expectations along the way.
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This episode was brought to you by the Pivot Ball Change Network.