Beatrice Rose Armentrout

When Greg and I found out we were unexpectedly expecting, we knew that, as older parents, there was a possibility of complications. Still, nothing prepares you for hearing that your baby has Down syndrome and complex heart defects.
Early in my pregnancy, Beatrice Rose was diagnosed with tetralogy of Fallot and pulmonary stenosis. Through countless ultrasounds and so many unknowns, the only things we knew for certain were that she would need extra support, surgery, and close monitoring.
When Beatrice was born on April 11, 2022, we were told she might spend an extended time in the NICU. She proved everyone wrong and came home after just eight days. Next, we were told heart surgery was imminent. Instead, she didn’t need heart surgery until she was three years old. From the very beginning, Beatrice made it clear she was strong, determined, and would do things on her own timeline.
In September 2022, she was listed for a heart transplant. Even then, she was considered a lower-priority candidate because of how well she continued to do. For the next two years, she grew, thrived, and hit milestone after milestone. She started (almost) walking, talking, and showing the world exactly who she was.
Everything changed in October 2024. After being admitted to the hospital with rhinovirus, Beatrice never came home. She remained at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital for the next 10 months until receiving the gift of a new heart in July 2025.
Those months were the hardest our family has ever faced. There were long nights, isolation, quarantines, and more uncertainty than we ever thought we could carry. But even confined to a hospital room, Beatrice continued to learn, grow, and thrive because of her incredible determination and the compassionate care she received from the team at Vanderbilt.
She came home in August 2025 and hasn’t slowed down since. She loves to dance, swim, sing, play ball, and, of course, eat. She’s strong-willed, fiercely independent, and keeps up with her siblings by copying everything they do.
As parents, I think it’s natural to grieve the child you imagined and the life you thought they would have. But Beatrice Rose has taught us that joy can look different than we expected and sometimes even better. She has changed our family in the most beautiful ways. She is our joy in the morning, our reminder of God’s faithfulness, and the blessing we thank Him for every single night. We truly can’t imagine our lives without her, and we are so grateful we don’t have to.