Happy Heart Day

TEN YEARS.  It’s hard to believe it was 10 years ago that I handed over my four month old baby girl to the arms of an anesthesiologist, who was ready to take her back to the surgical room to begin open heart surgery.

We took lots of bath pictures the night before her surgery to help us remember what her chest looked like before the surgery, scar free.  And then a family photo of all of the kids together before bedtime.  Sleeping bags and underwear hats and all.  Such a busy time of life ten years ago, four little kids all 5 and under, but so full of great memories.  One of the blessings that I most looked forward to with her surgery was that she would be able to nurse again.  No more pumping.  No more NG tube feedings.  No more tape burns on her cheeks.  It had been a long four months of pumping and my milk supply was getting lower and lower.  I needed her heart to be strong again so she could nurse and gain weight.

The surgeon was able to successfully repair her AV canal with minimal leaking on the left valve.  I felt an enormous love and gratitude for Morgan’s surgeon, knowing that he had given my daughter a second chance at life.  It was hard on her siblings to see her all hooked up to machines and tubes and to understand why she had to go through all of that.  Hadley’s first words every morning were, “I see Din-Din” and  would run out to Morgan’s swing hoping to find her home again.  She spent about a week in the hospital and then came home and made up for all of that missed time from those first few months of life.

And look at her now!  10 years old and as feisty as ever!