February is Heart Awareness Month! Today, February 3rd, is the day where you are supposed to wear red to support CHD Awareness. @freedompoint challenged me in his vlog to be myself. Don't just hide behind the homesteading name but also be a human with other interests and be yourself. So this is me. My kids are pieces of my heart walking around in the flesh. All 3 of them were diagnosed with heart murmurs. The boys closed by the age of 6 months. But my baby girl wasn't so lucky. My heart broke at the cardiologist the day he said, "Sarah, this one is different. We are going to have to do surgery on her, or she's not going to make it." Never something you want to hear said about your child. Although, I knew by looking at her emaciated body that she wasn't thriving. At 4 months old, in one the top Children's Hospitals, I handed my baby over to a surgeon to have open heart surgery. 2 hours we waited in constant prayer, and by a miracle of almighty God, she was in NICU recovery.
The Doctor that had performed the surgery had invented the gortex patch that they had sewn inside her tiny heart. He didn't speak much English, but he said, "tiny baby, big holes." She had actually had 3 separate holes. We hugged him and cried and thanked him for taking care of her. 5 days later, she got to come home. And now 4 years later, she's a normal, thriving, completely healed 4 year old. (She got her hair cut and styled last week)
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Fast forward to 2017. My dad was sick. He's not the Dr. type. I pleaded with him to please go get checked. The Dr. sent him to get a heart cath and they found his aortic valve was about to explode. Within 2 weeks he was having open heart surgery. He came through it amazingly and is also almost completely back to normal. He's one of my best friends, so I cannot imagine life without him. My baby girl thinks it's pretty awesome that her and papa have matching scars. They are best friends too!
![IMG_5280[1].JPG](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmY6uP2xJVtsuKViJPWRtgi1PZAaWWnkXbEMD5qtZb7KXC/IMG_5280%5B1%5D.JPG)
I have 2 amazing heart warriors. God is so good and faithful. He has brought us through so much. Praise Him! My heart is overjoyed today!
Thank you for sharing such an emotional subject and such a “human” story! I really enjoyed reading how your faith helped you through it. I love the wooden heart, too!
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My sister in law had those made for all the women to wear while we waited in the waiting room that day.
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Thank you for sharing this amazing story. There is so much more to us homesteaders than the old homestead.
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Yes there is. Feels good to be human :)
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I remember that day all too well. Sigh... what an amazing God we serve. He is so faithful and loving. We celebrate the life of these two dear people. They are precious.
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❤️❤️
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What incredible and hope-giving stories! Your family should be poster children for National Heart Awareness!
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That's an amazingly great post and it's obvious that God used their hearts to help mold yours as well. Thanks for sharing. I needed to hear that story today.
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Thank you:) She's one of my greatest joys. He has shown us we can lean hard on Him.
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@thefarmerswife thank you for sharing a part of who you are and what your family has overcome. Your little girl looks so cute with her hair cut and styled and the last photo with grandpa is priceless.
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Love them both so much!
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What an amazing story! It is great to hear about the whole thing from your perspective. I am also glad you got something from my vlog...and it is nice to see your context and not just your content. 🙃
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Inspired me to write from my feelings. :) I am typically myself all the time, but that was a very personal situation. One of the top 5 hardest things we've been through as a fam.
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I thank you for posting this and sharing. Our son (5th child) had transposition of the great arteries. He was air lifted to Children's hospital in Little Rock and had his first surgery at 10 hours old then open heart surgery at 5 days. The Lord placed some amazing people in our path while at the hospital. Not a day passes when I don't think about it and how it has brought our family that much closer. I glad to hear your time a Children's was blessed also and your little girl is doing wonderful!
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How is your son? It's definitely life changing. I pray for her every day.
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He is just over 10 months old and doing great. He is watching and smiling at me as I am typing this response.
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HalleluYah!!! 🙌🏼
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I can't imagine the rollercoaster of emotions you have gone through and still go through! Thank you for sharing the story @thefarmerswife! Your little one looks very happy in her Papa's arms!
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Thank you for reading:) I feel just so much gratefulness for life.
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Oh my goodness! You've been through so much, and God is so good! I'm so glad you have both of them! ❤
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Amen! Me too!
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