Little Hearts, Big Love - Finding gratitude amongst the grief of life without our heart angel
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Tag Archives: heart family

Remembering Jessica: The Little Hearts Matter memorial walk at the National Memorial Arboretum

16/10/201815/10/2018
Sophie sitting on hubby's shoulders looking at the hearts in the Little Hearts Matter tree

The day after Jessica’s funeral, we attended the Little Hearts Matter memorial service at the National Memorial Arboretum. Six months on from the last day of her life, we returned for the Little Hearts Matter autumn memorial walk.   For us, the day was about having space to remember Jessica and our beautiful memories of… Read More

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Preparing my child for heart surgery

19/10/201729/04/2022
An illustration of Jessica having an ECG

Yesterday we got the call that we’d been expecting and dreading. The date for Jessica’s next heart surgery. My world has shrunk to a few short weeks – a date in the calendar that I cannot see beyond. I know it has to happen. I know she needs this surgery, and that all being well,… Read More

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The loneliness of 3AM

12/10/201711/10/2017
Jessica asleep in her bed

3AM. I am sitting between my children’s beds, holding a hand each as I wait for them to go back to sleep. Listening to my husband snoring. In this moment I feel so utterly alone.   Successive nights of interrupted sleep have broken me. 3AM is when I snap, when it all becomes too much… Read More

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Reflections of a heart mummy: it’s all in the little moments

20/07/201719/07/2017
A very smiley Jessica on the rocking horse at the park

It’s in the little moments that the reality of being a heart mum hits me most. The little moments that catch me off-guard and bring tears to my eyes. Seeing my daughter enjoying a ballet class. Watching her play in the playground with her friends. The way she reaches out to hold her little sister’s… Read More

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Friday Focus 05/05/17 – Being thankful for the here and now

05/05/201704/05/2017
Thankful - this week's word of the week. A cartoon of the word thankful with drawings of me having a scan and me giving Jessica a cuddle

On 4th May 2011 I woke in the early hours of the morning and cried as I remembered the events of the previous day. Scared for my unborn baby’s future, scared of the journey that lay ahead. I wished I could wake in the morning and find it had all been a bad dream.  … Read More

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Six years on: our journey as a heart family

03/05/201703/05/2017
Jessica recovering from her third open-heart surgery

Six years on. Six years since the scan that changed our lives completely. The start of our journey as a heart family. One minute we were expecting a normal healthy baby. The next, we were heart parents. Our lives turned upside-down; excitement replaced by fear. Would our baby survive? What would the future hold? And… Read More

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I'm Louise, mummy of three - Jessica, forever six, who was born with half a heart and lives on in mine; and heart-healthy Sophie (born 2013) and Thomas (born 2018). I blog about living with grief after child loss, crafts, days out and the little moments of family life.

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A square cartoon showing the Little Hearts, BIg Love logo with four interconnecting hearts (3 red, 1 blue), cartoon drawings of a woman, a toddler boy, a little girl, a little girl with angel wings and a man and text above "finding gratitude amongst the grief of life without our heart angel"

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