When your newborn is healthy one moment and rushed to the PICU the next, life can change in an instant. Today's guest joins us to share her son's journey with severe hemophilia—from unexpected bleeding after a routine circumcision to a spontaneous brain bleed, emergency surgery, and a months-long PICU stay. This episode explores being thrust into medical motherhood, learning to advocate under unimaginable stress, and how community, child life, and modern medicine help families navigate life with a complex diagnosis.

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Sponsored in part by HealthWell Foundation—learn how you can help families afford life-saving medications at healthwellfoundation.org.

Resources

• Medical Support: Mayo Clinic Children's Center & Hemophilia Treatment Center, Rochester, MN

• Nonprofit & Community Support: Hemophilia Foundation of Minnesota & the Dakotas

Connect with Sami

• Follow Sami and Cooper's journey on Instagram

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Keywords: Severe hemophilia, Hemophilia in infants, Newborn hemophilia diagnosis, Infant brain bleed, Pediatric hemophilia, Medical motherhood, PICU parent experience, Emergency brain surgery infant, Rare disease parenting, Bleeding disorders in babies, Hemophilia treatment center, Parent advocate in healthcare, Life after a NICU or PICU stay, Medically complex child, Child life specialist support, Coping with a chronic diagnosis, Parenting after medical trauma, Hemophilia A awareness, Infant seizures medical emergency, Hospital parent support

Medical information provided is not a substitute for professional advice—please consult your care team.