World Heart Day Update

A heart is something we all have in common. Tangibly and intangibly it represents life. In that, it happens to be World Heart Day - a day to think about those with CHD and their families/friends/care-teams.

Rivy’s journey has been wildly heart-shaping for her and everyone connected to her. Five surgeries in the first year and a half of life, phew.

OHS #3 @ BCH 6/28/25

Since we got home from Boston, Rivy has taken off in so many ways. In that time she learned to crawl and then walk. She has graduated from Occupational Therapy! And, she’s working on broadening her eating horizons (slowly but surely). In the past few weeks we have started to do some “normal” things with her like going to story time at the library or shopping. We have even started successfully using the potty 💫

We are so deeply thankful for her progress and have high hopes for continued growth.

The family is staying steady. Nathan is enjoying consistency. Matthew and I are both on personal journeys of healing and recovery given all we’ve been through.

My health has been a wild ride. The full body rash I had remains a mystey. One dermatologist said it was chicken pox which sent up a flare that couldn’t be undone without lots of further testing and measures to have Rivy’s nursing reinstated after a prevention pause 😬 It was not chicken pox 🤦‍♀️ but it was intense and long lasting. Since then I’ve seen another dermatologist, a naturopath, an allergist, a colon hydrotherapist, and a visceral therapist (phew).

Matthew is enjoying new depths in his role, seeing God work, and partnering with Leroy in the consultancy. We’re also excited for MLB postseason that starts tomorrow - GO CUBS!

We did have the chance to take Nathan to a local Knight’s game and he really loved it.

I’ll leave you with these lyrics from U2’s One:

One love, one blood

One life you got to do what you should

One life with each other, sisters, brothers

One life, but we're not the same

We get to carry each other, carry each other