Just a week ago I had the pleasure of meeting the most loving and strong family. It was a blessing to photograph this little 14 week old “heart warrior “ and his lovely parents. Being a new mom and dad can be stressful enough, but with the challenges that they have faced this family deserves an award. And to be around them is to witness true grace, love, strength, and positivity.  

Parker was diagnosed in utero with a congenital heart defect (CHD) called Tetralogy of Fallot (4 defects ultimately impacting the ability for oxygenated blood to travel throughout his system). In the U.S., an estimated 1% (source: CDC) of babies born each year have CHD. 

Parker was prematurely born on 11/15/18 at Magee and taken immediately to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh for a confirmation EKG and observation to see how his tiny body was handling the defects. The doctors would have preferred to have Parker wait a few months to grow, so the surgery would be easier on him, but little man had other ideas and went into heart failure causing an emergency surgery on 11/24/18.  The amazing team of doctors and staff were able to complete a full repair!!  What a blessing it is to live in Pittsburgh, where we have such outstanding hospitals and doctors!

After the surgery, Parker had to teach himself to breathe and eat again.  And after a very long 2 months in the hospital he 'graduated' the CICU and came home!  He will need one more surgery to replace a valve when he is older, but Parker is now a thriving, growing, happy and loved baby.

Anyone who is close with me knows that there have been quite a number of people in my family who have undergone open heart surgery, none of whom had to deal with this at such an early age. Although under much different circumstances, I know what a life-changing and scary experience it can be to have a loved one have heart surgery. So, after getting a call several months ago from Meghan, Parker‘s mom, to schedule newborn photos I knew that I wanted to plan something extra special for this little guy.  I wanted to capture in his baby photos all that he has been through, and the beautiful miracle that he is.  Although we had to wait a bit longer than most newborns to have his photos taken, we ended up with photos that I know Parker's parents will treasure forever.     

There are a lot of meaningful details in Parker's baby photos that make these images extra special.  The beads pictured in the photos are Parker’s “Beads of Courage.”  They are given to all “heart warriors” on the cardiac floor at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.  Each bead represents a procedure that Parker has gone through in his journey to heart health. Parker's parents both wear his recorded heartbeat (before the repair) on Mom's necklace and Dad's bracelet, and his newest stuffed animal bear, with a matching scar, was a little gift from me.  Through sharing these photos, hopefully we can spread awareness of congenital heart disease (CHD).  Please share and pass along this amazing story of Parker.  God bless him and his lovely parents.  I can't wait to watch him grow!