Skip to main content

Mommy life: Heart Day--Celebrating 4 years!

Four years ago today, I handed my girl to a team of people. Basically strangers.  Their plan was to cut her perfect skin, crack her sternum, stop her heart, poke, stitch, and patch, and then bring her all back together again. 

And I still let them have her. Amazing.

Though not without lots of prayers in the moments before…

braskarkrock-sm

See that tiny girl up there?  3 months and 1 week old. About 11 pounds and 20 inches, at the very most. Her life to this point had been largely sleeping and watching the world go by, punctuated by lots of doctor appointments.  And now we were going to introduce her to “real life” in this way?

(If you haven’t read through the story as it happened, you can go here and find links to all the posts about the experience. There are videos, pictures, and more details about how it all went.)

I often call Braska my little SuperStar.  She amazes me every day.  She has already, in just over 4 years, totally surpassed all the expectations that I had in those first few days of how life would be.  They were grossly unreasonable and borne out of fear and the unknown.  But the beauty of that place of beginning is that every single solitary day brings celebrations, success, and progress, even when we feel like we’re sliding backwards at times.

So here’s to my girl, my little cheerleader, the sweetest light to brighten my day.  That precious heart that was messed with and cut on and brought to a halt four years ago now beats with the truest sense of love and real life. 

She’s still tiny. But she is healthy and her heart has been deemed, “Perfect.”  Over and over again, each time they look at it. Life is still a long road ahead and a lot of it will be uphill.  But if you want to know what her outlook on anything is…just look at her and say, “Hip, hip…” and she will be more than happy to add her daily mantra… “Hooray!!!”
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

We will be forever grateful to the team who repaired her heart and to our God who held it while they worked.

And how else should a girl celebrate a healthy heart on her 4th Heart Day??  Wrestling with Daddy and Sister at the end of a day full of fun. 

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Live on, little one.  You’re showing the rest of us how it should be done.

Comments

  1. Nothing brings me to tears like a good Happy Heart Day celebration. HAPPY HEART DAY, BRASKA!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. And what a treasure you are Little Miss.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your posts never fail to bring tears to my eyes. What a blessing it is to pop in here and read your heart.

    ReplyDelete
  4. A great way to celebrate the anniversary of a special day we'll always remember. Keep growing and glowing, Braska! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  5. what a sweet post!! gave me the chills!! yeah braka!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. HI
    My name is Jenna and I came across your site. Your daughter is an amazing special and brave courageous fighter. I love her smile. I was born with a rare life threatening disease. My site: http://www.miraclecahmp.webs.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. Belated Happy Heart Day!! What a sweet photo of you and Baby Braska. Awwww!!! **happy tears**

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow is Braska really 4!! Oh BTW Hello!!! Long time my friend. I am back to bloggy world!! Have missed reading all about your girls adventures!!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Be sure to leave a note so Mommy can read them to me each day!! (Sorry to add the moderation, but we were getting spammed!!) Thank you!

Popular posts from this blog

Mommy report: Chatty girl

Braska's been just loving her words lately. She's still signing some, mostly when we're in public or around strangers, but she's adding more words all the time. Many of her words are just attempts at the actual word, but that's where we all start, right?!? We're not saying that she'll be giving speeches next month, but we are very proud that she's become such a mimic and that she is loving using so many sounds. We practice often, just running through her words, signs, and tricks. She especially loves to chime in with videos of herself, so I've been working on compiling all her favorites for her to work with. As I was editing this, she was sitting here saying the words over and over. So funny to hear her talking to herself on the screen and loving it. So here's a peek at some clips from our practice session tonight. Some words are more obvious than others. They are all great attempts, though, and we'll celebrate that! Make an on-line

Nebraska meets Indiana

Braska's reaction to meeting the very kind Rory Feek and his beautiful daughter Indy.  I missed the part where Braska said Indy was sooooooooooo cute!  :) Our dream would be a photo showing the two most beautiful "states" together, right?!?  :)