Kayleen became a heart mom in 2023 when her third daughter, Gabriella Hope was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. They found out about Gabby’s heart defect at her 20 week anatomy scan, and a few days later Kayleen and her husband Corey had their first appointment at the Children's Hospital of Colorado where they learned about the three stage palliative surgery plan that could give Gabby an opportunity to live a meaningful life.

Gabby had her Norwood procedure at five days old and, by the grace of God, discharged the day before Easter after being hospitalized for 37 days. Kayleen and her husband heavily advocated for Gabby to spend interstage at “home”. It wasn’t an easy decision at the time nor one they took lightly, but they were grateful they did so after looking back. At 3 months old she made a trip back to Denver for a checkup and had a stent placed in her shunt that helped extend her interstage at home. At five months old Gabby had her Glenn where she had a rollercoaster of a recovery. Three days post-op her echo showed her heart function had declined and a week later they found out she had a Chylous Pleural Effusion (an unfortunate but common hiccup post-opt.) Gabby spent about six weeks in the hospital, but through the diligence and combined efforts of her medical team they found a recipe for success to not only minimize her effusion, but improve her heart function which eventually led to the green light to head home to Montana!

Through the entirety of her daughter’s journey, Kayleen felt a calling to impact the CHD community in one way or another. Fellow directors Ashleah and Kalee both reached out immediately once word of Gabby’s diagnosis spread, offering advice, comfort and friendship. Little did they know they ended up being vital voices of reason during some hard days and a source of comfort for Kayleen knowing they walked a similar road. During Gabby’s hospitalization Kayleen and her husband would put care-packages together for other heart families, with the intention to pass along the overwhelming amount of support they received while hospitalized. After learning about Kalee and Ashleah’s combined passion to fund heart research and help families “going through it” joining Montana Bravehearts was a no brainer.