What I Love About CHD

 It was very easy to write yesterday's post on the things that I HATE about CHD, surprisingly easy. It's difficult for me today to use the word "love" and "CHD" in the same sentence because I can't say that I even remotely like CHD. I wouldn't wish for anyone to discover that their child has a heart defect and have to watch as their baby goes through surgeries, complications, and heart-related struggles. 

However; I love the blessings that have come into our life as a result (or maybe in spite of) CHD. 

The CHD fact for today is that there are an estimated

 2,000,000 CHD Survivors 

in the United States! And I am proud to say that I am the mother to one of those survivors!!

I can honestly say that I wish that Stella did not have to go through any of the terrible things she has endured but I love the strong person that she is already becoming because of it. 

I love Stella just the way she is and there is NOTHING that I would change about her and NOTHING that I regret about her history. I love how Stella has a smile on her face every day, even the days she spent in the hospital.

 

I love her stubborn personality because I know that her stubbornness is what helped her to fight for her life when everything was fighting against her.

I love her scream because I remember when we left the hospital and the doctors weren't even sure if she would have a voice

I love her glasses because there was a time when we were unsure if she would even be able to see

I love her scars because they are a daily reminder to thank God for answering our prayers.

I love her sweet voice and her contagious laugh

All of these things make what CHD put us through totally worth it, because without CHD we would not have the chance to be parents to Stella.

I could go on and on about the million things that I love about Stella but this post is supposed to be about the things I love about CHD...

I have to say that the only thing (besides the life of my child) that I can thank CHD for is relationships.

I love how such a tragedy brought so many wonderful people into our lives...from strengthening relationships with family, gaining support from friends, building relationships with other families in the CVICU and creating relationships with the many doctors and nurses that helped to save Stella's life. With the amount of community support that we had, there was not a moment that we did not feel loved and blessed; even on some of our hardest days. 

I love that CHD brought us closer in our marriage and closer in our relationship to God...it put us in a rock-bottom place where all we could do was lean on each other and trust in God.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)

We had to trust that God had a plan for Stella and a future for us. Many days this was hard to do because we did not know what God's plan was or if His plan aligned with our plan. This experience really taught me how to surrender control and trust God's plan and I have to thank CHD for that.