by A year ago today at this hour, Aaron and I were already pacing the hospital, waiting for hourly updates on Dr Gaynors progress as he operated on AJs tiny little heart, about the size of a walnut.
This very morning last year we held our little angel tight, prayed a lot of prayers, and handed him over to someone we barely knew to hopefully save his life, with a coin toss of odds as to if he would make it through surgery and any number of odds stacked against him.
A year ago today, we had Jimmy Johns for lunch that Help-A-Heart sent us to make sure we ate and Lasairiona did her best to keep her composure as she was at the hospital awaiting the news with us.
Our nurse Joy called us to let us know that every step of the surgery was going to plan and that we would soon be able to see our baby boy again. Dr Gaynor met us in the consult room and let us know that everything went well and that the rest was really up to AJ.
It took a while for the docs to get him stable, but when they did and we could finally see him, his chest was left open and you could see his tiny little beating heart moving underneath the yellow and red striped film. It may have disturbed the average person, but it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Our little fighter was alive and his heart was still beating. It was in so many ways only been the beginning of our battles, but it was a giant first step. We went from a 5% chance of survival and talks of hospice and saying our goodbyes to having a beating heart post surgery.
Some days are still incredibly hard, AJ demands quite a bit of attention and we don’t always have nursing – like last night as he’s been battling recovery from his vaccinations and needed attention every hour or more and a few different oxygen adjustments – but not a day goes by where I don’t think about how far we’ve come and the battles he’s already conquered. He has taught us so much…
Today will be spent cuddling a grumpy, barely slept, post 1 year immunizations baby boy… And full of lots of hugs and kisses as we celebrate how far not just AJ, but all of us have come over the past year and give thanks to everyone who has supported us on this journey. Xx
