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.

Saturday 6 September 2014

Happy 3rd birthday Jessica!




Our little miracle has been celebrating her third birthday today.  We have had such a lovely day at home with visits from godmummy Katy, Great-Auntie Marls, cousins Meryl and Elisabetta, Nanny, Grandma, Grandad, Auntie Fizz, Auntie Loraynne and Uncle Pete.  Jessica was very excited to see her birthday card being read out on CBeebies this morning and loved her birthday cake in the shape of Mr Tumble’s spotty bag.  She has had lots of lovely presents including a camera from Mummy and Daddy (we have had lots of interesting photos – mostly of people’s knees and the sofa!), a doll’s pushchair from Nanny and a bicycle from Grandma and Grandad.  Sophie has also enjoyed playing with Jessica’s new presents too!

  
It has been a lovely day and we feel very blessed to have been able to celebrate Jessica’s third birthday. It is amazing to think that this time three years ago she was having her very first open-heart surgery and everything was very uncertain and very scary – we are so very thankful for all the wonderful medical staff who have looked after Jessica since that day (and before she was born too!) and have helped her get her today.  What a blessing it is to watch our beautiful little girl running around and having such a wonderful time on her birthday.  Thank you too to all our wonderful friends and family and everyone who has been there for us on our journey.


Jessica has also featured in the Little Hearts Matter newsletter which arrived on our doormat this morning – with Michael’s reflections on being a heart dad being one of the featured articles. 


Here are a few photos of Jessica enjoying her birthday:










Happy birthday beautiful little Jessica.  Mummy and Daddy love you so very much and are so very proud of you – you bring us so much joy and we thank God every day for you.


Liquoriceuk
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2 comments:

  1. Unknown13 September 2014 at 15:25

    Happy Birthday gorgeous girlie! How AMAZING is that cake! I'm especially liking your set of wheels.. huge pram fan over here! Sounds like her day was a fantastic one! xx

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    1. Louise24 September 2014 at 22:02

      Thank you - she did have a lovely day and was very happy with the cake too! :-)

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