“Coming Home” – Josh’s CHD Story

Coming Home

“She’s going to need open heart surgery soon after she’s born,” said Ashley. I heard the quiver in her voice as we spoke on the phone. I had been connected with Ashley and her daughter as a Basket Delivery Parent for Jack’s Basket. Her Jack’s Basket had arrived at her home a few days earlier; the soft pink blanket lay ready to wrap her precious baby with Down syndrome. “The echocardiogram revealed so many concerns,” she said. I felt tears welling up in my eyes as I held my phone. “Our 2-year-old son Josh had open heart surgery last fall, and he did amazing,” I told her. “Your baby girl is going to do amazing too.”

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One year earlier, a crisp October wind blew on my face as my husband and I wandered the Boston streets near the hospital.  Josh had already been in surgery for 7 hours. My husband’s phone rang, and we heard, “The surgery was successful and your son is off bypass.” The tears streaming down my face mirrored my husband’s, and what started as a stroll quickened to a stride, then a jog, as we ran back to the hospital. Josh was going to come home. 

Three hours later I held Josh’s tiny pale hand as he lay hooked up to more tubes, wires, and monitors than I could count. That night, I wrote in my journal, “Josh, we have more hurdles ahead of us. I don’t know how long you’ll be in the hospital, but I know God is carrying you so close. He is faithful, and He is going to carry you home.” A week to the day after we arrived in Boston, Josh came home with a beautiful, working heart. 

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Ashley recently texted, “Nora was born, and she underwent surgery three days later. We are still in the NICU but healing well. She is such a joy to us!” Dressed in pink and wrapped in a pink swaddle, Nora’s sweet smile shone from the photos Ashely sent. She would be coming home too. 

Stephanie, Josh’s Mom