"Hi, I am Rebecca and I am a heart mama"*

*for this post, I will use "mama" instead of "momma" which I usually use :)

I became a heart mama on August 25, 2010.  This was the day we found out that Claire had Tetralogy of Fallot.  I became an official heart mama on October 6, 2010 - the day Claire was born. 

I had never heard the term "heart mama" or "heart babies" used to classify us as a group.  A group of alike people and families that are joined by one common thread - our child/children are born with heart defects.  Whether it be Tetralogy of Fallot or some other heart defect, we are all connected by this similarity. 

When we found out Claire had TOF, I wanted to Google it so bad to see what it was.  But I was highly warned not to Google it and not to read anything online about it.   So I had family and friends basically look it up and then just send us links that were "good" to read. 

We didn't really have a long time after Claire's diagnosis before she was born to look for other people who were dealing with the same thing.  And then after Claire's birth, I didn't really have time to look for other families dealing with the same thing due to being so consumed with Claire and what has been going on with her. 

So recently I have been needing to find other mom's that are going through similar situations with their babies and their hearts.  So I started searching and searching online and finally found a few blogs online written by mom's with babies with heart defects.  I am so glad to finally find these other blogs that I can connect to and say "wow - I guess I am not crazy for feeling the way I did that day when such and such happened!"  Even though each child is different, there are so many things that are alike between us moms and the gamut of emotions we feel each day whether at home or in the hospital.  The blogs have also help me realize that the gut instinct that all of us feel about our heart babies is always right.  No matter what. 

So in these blogs, I found that we have earned the honor of being called "heart mamas" and I love that.  We all have that connection with our heart babies.  Trent and I are so proud to be the parents of our heart baby.  There aren't really any blogs out there that I've seen about a "heart daddy" but that's definitely what Trent is! 

I am very proud to wear my heart mama badge of honor proudly on my shirt directly over my own heart. 

Love,


The Scott Family


PS - here are a few links to other heart mama blogs that I have connected to:

http://preciousmason.blogspot.com/

http://www.heartmamablog.com/

http://rebekahgraceellis.blogspot.com/

http://chdbabies.blogspot.com/ (this site also has a lot of CHD terms and research)