6-year-old was born with a heart defect. Here's what her parents tell her every night.

当斯蒂芬妮·詹纳斯发现自己怀上了第三个孩子, she and her husband, Dan, were ecstatic. 他们开始为五口之家的生活做准备，甚至买了一辆小型货车.

Stephanie's pregnancy was mostly smooth. 当测试显示婴儿的染色体可能有问题时，有一段短暂的恐慌. However, that turned out to be a false alarm. And when baby Corey arrived at a hospital in Rhode Island, she passed all the newborn screenings, despite weighing only 4 pounds, 11 ounces.

In the maternity ward, 当一名护士来看他们时，斯蒂芬妮正在享受与科里的依偎和早期的亲密关系. The nurse noticed Corey's gums and nailbeds were blue. She took the newborn to the nursery for further observation.

Soon, Stephanie was being wheeled into a conference room. 医生宣布:科里出生时患有法洛四联症并伴有肺闭锁——一种复杂的先天性心脏缺陷.

四小时前，她的孩子还很健康，斯蒂芬妮心想. But now, Corey needed to be transferred to a hospital in Boston. 斯蒂芬妮和丹看着他们躺在医院婴儿床上无助的婴儿, wearing a tiny outfit with a pumpkin hat. (It was October 2017.) All they could do was cry, pray and hope for the best.

Corey had her first open-heart surgery at 5 days old. It took a month for her to be healthy enough to go home.

What should've been a milestone wasn't. Corey was soon drinking less and sleeping more. 当斯蒂芬妮和丹把她送回医院时，她的氧含量已经低到危险的程度. 这两个问题都源于她需要一个新的肺动脉瓣.

因为她吃得不好，科里被插上了喂食管. 她的低氧导致她需要全程吸氧.

从2018年1月到8月，科里一直在使用喂食管和氧气. 就在那时，她的医疗团队说她需要再做一次心脏手术来植入一个瓣膜.

The surgery made a huge difference. 科里开始对食物表现出兴趣，对她的兄弟怀亚特和雅各布笑着说着话.

科里的改善是如此深刻，以至于斯蒂芬妮和丹觉得他们不再处于“生存模式”."

"Over the years, 科里开始承认并理解她有心脏病，她是不同的, she's proud of her scar," Stephanie said.

如今6岁的科里每天醒来都会看到卧室墙上挂着自己的照片. 在这张照片中，她躺在医院的简易床上，胸口有个洞，还有很多管子和绷带.

"They fixed my heart," Corey said.

那颗坚强的心是科里和她的父母每天晚上都在想的.

After putting on her favorite pajamas, 刷完牙，爬到床上读她最喜欢的睡前故事——关于心脏缺陷幸存者的绘本——科里听到了最爱她的人的肯定.

"We always say at nighttime during prayers, 'You are strong, you are brave, you are beautiful, you are powerful,'" Stephanie said. “她知道自己与同龄人不同，但她仍然是一个坚强有力的小女孩. I want her to always know that. I don't ever want her to see her heart defect as a disability; I want her to use it as a strength."

Stories From the Heart 记录心脏病和中风幸存者、护理人员和倡导者的鼓舞人心的旅程.