This is juniper our little June bug she was born on February 12th 2014 healthy and normal
or so we thought at two weeks old me to Juniper to her first doctors appointment
her heart looked a little big in our doctor wanted us to see a cardiologist
right away at the cardiologist juniper had her first echocardiogram her first
of many the doctor then told us that our baby had dilated cardiomyopathy a
condition in which the heart's left ventricle is enlarged decreasing heart's
ability to pump blood throughout the body in other words our baby's heart was
failing
four days later we are transferred to Children's Hospital Colorado and
immediately rushed to the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit there they have
Juniper upto tons of machines that's when we understood that we were going to
have to make some tough decisions in order for our baby to survive after much
deliberation we decided to put Juniper on a left ventricular assist
device otherwise known as a Berlin heart simply this machine helps Juniper's
heart pump blood
but it was a temporary solution a bridge to transplant we knew she needed a new
heart and it needed to happen quickly
so we waited over the next six months we waited by our daughters bedside hoping
for a heart every day our nurses and our doctors waited with us
keeping me strong and optimistic everyday
then on September 16 we found out she was getting a new heart
in the waiting room during the procedure at all felt so real we have been
waiting for this moment for months but now it was here we didn't actually know
what to expect he wondered how long it would take for Junipers body to adjust to
the new heart
wonder what would you like to finally take her home we wondered how long it
would be before she'd be a normal kid again we wondered if our baby would even
make it through this transplant
Only eight days after Juniper's transplant the
team at children's colorado sent us home nearly seven months after our first
doctors could be a normal family again finally it felt real up to this point
all juniper really knew was being in the hospital and all we really knew about
being parents was being there with her but now she finally be home it's been
over a year since Juniper's transplant I will tell you that it's been an easy
juniper still not eating and we have to give her nourishment in a feeding tube.
She is still not talking too much and she has to work with a speech therapist every week
we have to give juniper heavy doses of medication every 12 hours on the hour so
that her body does not reject her new heart but we have our juniper our little
June bug with us today because of her transplant because somebody said yes to
organ donation
Juniper runs around our house laughing playing and making a mess like any other toddler
she loves dogs and can barely contain her excitement when she sees them
over the past year she's traveled to see family and friends around the country
she's finally getting to have a somewhat normal childhood and we are getting to
picture a future with juniper hopeful for what the coming years bring us for
For that we are forever grateful