Little Hearts Matter, a charity who have supported us since Danny was diagnosed with Hypoploastic Left Heart Syndrome shortly after birth, asked for Mums to send in photos of themselves with their HLHS children to celebrate this upcoming Mother’s Day. I couldn’t just pick one, so have chosen a couple of shots of us together from over the years.
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| I am jaundiced here post CS- not fake tanned! |
This is the first photo of me with Danny. It’s not the “first photo” that I had imagined I would have with my baby but then nothing does go as planned. Here, we have just arrived in Cardiff after being transported by ambulance from Haverfordwest. At this point, we didn’t know what was wrong with poor Danny, just that he couldn’t breathe for himself and was seriously ill.
Here we are in Birmingham, where he was transferred to soon after diagnosis. This photo shows our first cuddle since his birth. It was bitter sweet. Every mum knows how they long to cuddle their baby, but he had just had a huge operation and I could tell that he was in discomfort. I was also worried that if I pulled one of his leads it would cause him more pain or harm him. My breasts ached to feed him and I wanted to squeeze him in close to me and never let him go but I had to give him the space to recover and get better.
Here Danny has had his first two major operations and is on the waiting list for his third one. We love taking part in Comic Relief every year.
Here Danny’s sisters, Rebecca and Caitlyn and cousin Cerys join us in the photo. We are at our friend, Caroline’s Wedding. This was a lovely, special, family event.
Here is a proud Mum with her little Cub Scout on Remembrance Sunday 2011. Danny is now a Scout and loving it!
This is us last week on the way to his Gym Competiton.
And lastly, our most recent photo together, taken by Rebecca in the Garden today.
Thanks everyone at Little Hearts matters for all the support you have given us over the years- we look forward to seeing you all Saturday at the Open Day!
I could not imagine what that must be like right after birth. I was very sick when I was born and my mum has talked to me about what it was like being able to hold or take care of me at first like a typical first mom would. Love the timeline of photos you shared. x
wow I can't imagine going though this, you are both so brave and wait a beautiful boy you have x
Thanks for sharing your story and help raise awareness, you have a little fighter there. Lovely to see him growing up into the boy he is now. x
Thanks so much. He is certainly a fighter x
Thanks. The odd thing is, looking back I don't know how we coped, but when you're put in that situation, you just do. x
Thanks. Sorry you were sick when you were born, must have been hard for your mum (and you as a baby, of course). Thank you xxx
Oh my goodness, I can't even imagine how scary that must have been. What an amazing little guy and a super brave mummy you are xx
oh, this is so sweet, and it's lovely to see these photos, as well as raise a bit of awareness. i'd not heard of this before! is there anything special you/he have to do, or is it jus something he lives with?
Oh this is such a beautiful post – just so wonderful and you must be so proud of your boy 🙂 I only need minor heart surgery but it has make me think a lot about children who have to undergo operations and how scary it must be for everyone involved and you are so brave. I only wish the absolute best for you and your family and hopefully the road ahead will be a very smooth one – you all deserve it :)Laura x