Our beautiful daughter Jessica was born in September 2011 with a severe heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome. This was diagnosed at her 20 week scan and we were initially told that she was unlikely to be suitable for surgery. However, a pioneering in-utero operation at 28 weeks to enlarge a hole in her atrial septum was carried out and she was able to make it to term and get through her first open-heart surgery at just eight hours old. Jessica underwent five more surgeries during her life. Her final surgery - the Fontan procedure - took place in December 2017. She initially made a good recovery but sadly passed away suddenly on 14th April 2018 at the age of 6. This is the story of a little girl whose half a heart overflowed with love. She was, and will forever be, our little miracle and brought joy to all who knew her.

Sunday 27 November 2011

Jessica's welcome service

When Jessica was born, we knew that her future was very uncertain and so we had her baptised a few minutes after birth, hoping that later on we would be able to take her to church and have a welcoming/thanksgiving service and today that day arrived. As Jessica had already been baptised, we were unable to have a christening service but we were able to include the other aspects of a christening service that we were unable to do in hospital – the baptismal candle and choosing godparents for Jessica. Thank you to our lovely friends Gillian, Katy, Bryan and Nicki for becoming Jessica’s godparents.

It was also an opportunity to give thanks for what God has done in our lives and Jessica’s life. We have had so much to thank God for on this journey – the many miracles that have got us this far, being given hope and the strength to keep going, the wonderful support we have had from family and friends and the sheer amount of prayer that has surrounded us all – not just from our family and friends, but from many people who do not know us personally and have never met Jessica. Thank you all for being there alongside us on this journey.

It was wonderful to be able to share this special day with family and friends and Jessica enjoyed having lots of cuddles. She had a very pretty new dress for the occasion and also wore her daddy’s christening cape which was knitted by her great-great-grandmother back when Michael was a tiny baby. Our minister, Nick, did a beautiful service with the theme of hope – very appropriate for this journey as well as for Advent, which of course we are now at the beginning of. Thank you to everyone who came and shared Jessica’s special day.


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1 comment:

  1. Anonymous29 November 2011 at 21:40

    beautiful! praise God and bless you all!

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