Category: Mended Little Hearts Blog
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Thank You, Mr. Bach
By MaryAnn Zima Our son, John, was born 10 days late in the spring of 1990, healthy and robust but with a very worried expression on his face. Doctors said everything was fine, and he was two days old when we went home to our family. Shortly after we settled in, he began having problems…
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Taking Doctor Visits Step-by-Step
By Jillian Villemaire As Im sure many heart parents experience, I find myself anxious leading up to our six-month cardiology follow-ups. I get worried about what the doctors will say and what the next steps will be. I am a mother of two young boys, and my 4-year-old has a congenital heart defect. We are…
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Dont Call Me Brave
By Julie Titterington My son Malcolm was born with several serious, complex congenital heart defects. They all have hopelessly specialized medical names hypoplastic left heart syndrome, double-outlet right ventricle, transposition of the great arteries which we usually just condense down into more palatable acronyms. The gist of it all is that the left…
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Swaddling Blankets to Honor CHD Baby Lucas
By: Jennifer Weiss Our son Lucas Hesselbach was born on June 8, 2018, with multiple congenital heart defects. He was diagnosed with hypoplastic left ventricle, double outlet right ventricle, coarctation of the aorta, ASD, mitral valve hypoplasia and mitral atresia. Lucas was also born with Pierre Robin sequence, which includes microcephaly, retrognathia, and micrognathia (small…
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A Custom Sock for a Special Girl
We got such an incredibly thoughtful surprise, which reminded me that despite all the scary and horrible things that are happening in the world, there are good people and good stories. Our daughter, Everly, was born with a congenital heart defect. She had her first open heart surgery, a STAT 5, at just three days…
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The New Mended Hearts and Mended Little Hearts Membership Experience
Recently Mended Hearts and Mended Little Hearts announced the creation of brand new membership levels. Our goal in doing so is to transform the membership experience to make it more positive and more valuable. Historically, people paid their dues to be a part of our organization. But we believe membership should not be an obligation,…
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Transitioning from Hospital to Home
After the much-anticipated birth of a child with CHD, the reality of bringing him or her home can be both exciting and terrifying. While your child was in the hospital, doctors and nurses were his or her primary caregivers. Once youve returned home, you are faced with taking over care, which can be very scary.…
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My Truths as a Heart Mom
By: Maureen Snider Those first stormy days are a blur. The discovery of the heart defect, the diagnosis, the worry, the guilt, the fear: they all blend together like paint on a watercolor landscape. Almost 14 years later, I can still summon that frightful feeling in the pit of my stomach as if it were…
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Is It Okay to Feel Okay?
By Allison McKay Is it okay to feel okay? I ask myself this question often, but as a mom of a heart baby, Im not sure I should. I almost feel guilty. Our daughter, Jolie Jane, is about one and a half. She has several major heart defects, the main one being HRHS. She…
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Hospital Hacks
By Lindsay Davis I want to preface this article by stating that I find scars to be a beautiful thing that no one should be ashamed of. I wear mine proudly and think of them as warrior markings. When weve been through something so difficult, there’s no reason we should be embarrassed by something…