Miracles For Our Bébé

10/10/2025

I’ll hold and rock them always. I love it, I don’t mind at all. Who they marry can sleep train them 🤭 For me these moments, they-are the best parts of me and of my life-and if you say I’m wrong about that then I don’t ever want to be right. 🤍

09/30/2025

💙❤️World Heart “Day”

Is to be celebrated not just today but everyday. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death globally, and raising awareness about this everyday is important.

Tangible ways you can make each day heart day:
-Find healthy ways to manage stress as it significantly impacts your heart health.
-Educate Yourself and others. Stay informed about heart disease and share your knowledge!
-Encourage or bless a heart family/the patient!

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is one of the most lethal congenital heart defects, and remains clinically challenging. While surgical palliation allows most HLHS patients to survive their critical heart disease with a single-ventricle physiology, many die, and many will suffer heart failure, requiring heart transplantation as the only therapeutic course.

Our Teaks has a diagnosis of HLHS. HLHS stands for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, which is a serious congenital heart defect where the left side of the heart is underdeveloped. It is a medical condition, NOT an identity, meaning HLHS describes his physical health problem rather than his personal characteristic or sense of self. ❤️ Yes, his diagnosis is HLHS but not WHO he is. 😉 He IS a little warrior and so much more, AND alive because of God, his fighter spirit, continued prayers, his beyond amazing medical team; because of research, medical advances, and humans who have passion and such care and beyond skills to heal and help!

Alabama has one of the nation's highest rates of heart disease-related deaths, with nearly 15,000 Alabamians dying from heart disease in 2022.

Our Teaks is a miracle, Olen is a miracle too, we are miracles and GET to live. I invite you to place your hand on your heart tonight, take an intentional breath, slowly breathe in and out, and give an intentional thanks for your life and those around you. Reflect on all the beauty and mess of it all.

09/22/2025

Teaks is RARE.

Went to genetics today. Let this sink in:

So About 1 in 10,000 live births are HLHS. Only about 900-1,000 babies born with it in a year. There about 134 million babies born each year.

🤯

09/20/2025

Mornings with Teaks Ru!

09/10/2025

9/9/25
It has been a bit since I updated! Teaks Ru is improving and exploring and growing day by day! We have really been working on eating! He had been going to Childrens On Third Speech Center and seeing the wonderful speech language pathologist Lauren Watts! We are stopping speech for now until he can improve motor skills like good head control and being able to sit up on his own!

We have been looking for signs of readiness for solids. Some of these are interest in food; so opening his mouth, trying to reach for food, and making mouth movements like eating when around food. Part of readiness is also good head and neck stability and good trunk stability when supported and bringing objects to his mouth. Some of these goals we have been working on are placing a dry spoon on the tray and allowing him to bring it to his mouth, dipping the spoon in puree and allowing him to bring it to his mouth, placing puree on the tray and allowing him to feel it and bring his own hands to his mouth.

He has increase “wet chest congestion” observed when eating and it can be heard in some of these videos so offering 5-10 tastes of puree twice a day FOR NOW.

We can also offer him 15cc of thin water before having the purées in a bottle or a sippy and that goal is for his own interaction with them but he is not interested much in a sippy nor coordination being quite there YET (it will come 😊).

We honor his signs of refusal being the head turning, the pursed lips, no response to the item, him pushing away, or that strong gag response.

With him we have to watch for aspiration which does include coughing, choking, that wet chest congestion, if he had red/watery eyes, or an increased work of breathing.

I’m so proud of him. I have had some tell me “just give him food and he will eat”and it is not that simple. It is going to take time. We lived at the hospital for about 6 months including our back and forth still. It is not “just easy” for him to eat. As a mama it is so hard to watch him struggle to enjoy food. He is approaching 9 months. Early intervention is thankfully coming to our house twice a month now and we set goals and a goal that I provided is I truly want to watch him enjoy and dig in so messy to his 1st Birthday cake-please pray that with me.

I am a mama walking through one of the hardest parts of motherhood-watching my baby struggle to eat, relying on an NG tube, and longing for the simple joys that most parents take for granted. I ache to see my little boy enjoy food, to witness the delight in his eyes when he tastes something new, to celebrate messy mealtimes and favorite snacks. It is not “just missing milestones” it is missing moments that feel like they define babyhood itself.
My heart is full of love and hope, and even in the midst of the struggle, I dream of the day he can eat freely, laugh with a mouthful of food, and snuggle with a full belly. I am holding space for joy that has not quite arrived yet but I know it will.

To every mama walking this road with me: If your baby struggles to eat, if mealtimes are marked by tubes and tears instead of giggles and bites please know this: you are not alone.
I can tell you, there’s a mama out there who dreams of seeing her baby taste strawberries for the first time. Another who longs for the mess of mashed potatoes on tiny fingers. Another who watches her child fight for every ounce, every swallow, and still shows up with love, patience, and fierce devotion.
You are part of a sisterhood of longing and love.
Let’s remind each other That every bite will one day be a victory.
That every messy meal will be a celebration.
That every mama who waits, hopes, and holds her baby close is doing something sacred.
If you are a mama who has come through the other side and whose baby now eats with joy, please share those moments. Tell us about the first bite, the favorite snack, the food dance. Let your story be a lighthouse for those of us still in the storm. And if you are still in it, like me, let your heart speak. Your story matters. Your hope matters. Your baby matters.
We ARE holding space for bite bites, belly laughs, and the day our baby gets to just be a baby boy/girl and loving food, loving life, and loving you right back

08/31/2025

Bros matching for game day 🐘
Things of note-Olen’s cake pop mouth and the way Teaks smiles with Olen holding him 🥴❤️

08/27/2025

When I discovered I was carrying rainbow Bebe Teaks…to loving and holding rainbow Bebe Teaks AT HOME without wires on him or having to check if I can 🤍
The ultimate miracle is not simply an event but the manifestation of God's limitless power and eternal victory

08/22/2025

Our family, lifesavers, beautiful humans, little fighters, home away from home, (even though you would never ask for the pain, joy is also very present and you do not forget the floor and stay bonded for life) no other place or better place I would want our Teaks. ♥️ Miracles happen.

08/16/2025

08/16/2025

♥️♥️

08/16/2025

Look at Teakie go :)

07/13/2025

7/12/24
An update that Teaks is home! YAY-beyond a YAY. He stayed one night when we took him back for withdrawal symptoms. That one night back to the CCU they said “he was a complete angel” and they didn’t have to give him any PRNs that night. The next morning they called me and asked if I wanted to take him home. We always want him home AND we want him home completely well enough to enjoy and stay home. Sweet NP Laura who I truly love her heart encouraged me to “look at him” and see what I felt about him coming home. The medical team is outstanding, we have been family for 6 months now and they trust me so much and let me trust my mama heart which I will forever be grateful for. If any of you read this that have stayed by our side during our time at the hospital, thank you for letting me be part of all the rounds, thank you for encouraging me to keep hope, thank you for always checking in to see if I have questions, thank you for the hugs and peace when I cry and I am extra sacred. Thank you for not “just being medical staff” but being some of the most caring and loving humans in this world. What you ALL do is very hard AND it matters so much. I’m not a surgeon, I’m not a nurse but I am his mama so thank you for giving me every opportunity to do the mama things. Living on the CVICU is “not normal” but it is our “normal” and I’m thankful that it has become a safe place for my baby. I’ll never be able to thank any of you enough or appropriately and I have been told Teaks living and thriving is the best thanks you all receive.

Hug your medical team even during the frustrations because they are frustrated too with you even if they “need to” be professional. Thank them, it matters, they helped to save my baby and continue to, and I’ve seen them cry over him, call him “an angel” and fight for him with us. My heart is so full that y’all never “gave up on him” even after him dying, all the bumps in his road, it looks so scary and awful sometimes and as his mama to see him endure what he has I’ve needed y’all and thank y’all for holding hope when mine was draining. It’s hard to be a heart family AND it’s hard to be working, helping, teaching, and to keep going on that medical floor. He is alive. He is alive. Thank God for humans that continually save him and cry over him in prayer and continually love on not only him, but us.

Teaks is home. He is past his 2nd open heart of the Glenn and this part of his healing has allowed us to have some breath; so space for a few years before his next open heart of the Fontan which will occur around kindergarten. It will never get “easier.” When Teaks got to the CCU after his Glenn before going home Zach and I were sitting at the end window holding him as Olen was ringing the ball in the basketball goal. A girl walks through (probably about 7) screaming and looking up at her mama “it hurts” they have to have her get up and walk to heal and Zach and my heart dropped and Zach was telling me how sad and hard that is to see and I told him that is part of our future with Teaks. They are fighters. Continually fighters.

Teaks is home. He’s home. We are all home as a family at the same time. I’m not pushing through my back to back counseling sessions all day holding all my energy left to rush to the hospital quick as I can to see Teakie, and then booking it to get Olen from school, and then trying to save time for Zach and I when there really is not opportunity; this part is slowing down and ceasing because the dynamics of being at the hospital so much He’s home so we get to take that hospital part out for now and I feel me peace as I counsel and more time with Olen too and gaining more time with Zach. We are trying to build back together. This is continually hard on our marriage. Zach and I’s time is drawing a ton and ton of meds, starting feeds, taking care of both of them, being sure his NG doesn’t get pulled, following the sternum precautions, helping and hoping he can eventually eat one day, feeding our O and having fun with him and being able to be more present without having to rush his moments, its seeing the beauty of Olen building a bond with his brother, us being parents at our home with our two boys. Trying to gain some new foundation at home and it’s hard but I would not trade it because I look at my boys and I will always love hard, thank God so much for them, thank God we get to be in this messy, but incredibly beautiful life. Breathing, ah we can truly thank God for some breath emotionally and physically.

Teaks was able to go on his first outing with us today(7/12/25) as a family. My sweet co-worker and friend’s baby turned one and we went to celebrate witth them which was so fun. The cool things we get to do and slide into now that he is healed up more. Olen is getting to be the “bubba” to his “bubba” and show Teaks about the world so fiercely. Olen is the silliest boy and outgoing and smart and he loves hard and waves at and blows “mwahs” at everyone, seriously everyone. There is a saying that no matter what the kids we are blessed with (despite what they endure) are kids God specifically chose to bless us with. He chose them and specifically us to parent and love.

People will tell me that we, Olen, Teaks, are “going to do great things” and my response to that is they already have they already are.

Please continue to pray for us. Teaks has not ate by mouth for 6 months. I was determined to bring him home with his NG and truly hopeful I could aggressively and patiently work with him to eat and enjoy food. He has an aversion because it has been so long. Olen wants to join in and eat with him and yells “Tryyyy” at Teaks with meals 🤭 and Teaks sees but he isn’t reaching to join in. There is reliance on his NG so much. I hate seeing him not eat by mouth and enjoy meals with us. I hurt for him. They typically don’t but they have taught me and allow me to put his NG tube back in if it comes out so we are not having to drive back to the CVICU or the ER when it comes out. He is 6 months now so the mittens don’t stop him grabbing it and we can’t keep mittens on him because a 6 month old needs to develop and soar with that and it’s hard for him to soar with the limitations of an NG. They are putting him in an intensive feeding program and having early intervention come to us. It still will be much back and forth to Children’s and I will do anything for him and Olen. Zach and I have decided to go forth with Teaks getting a G-tube to be able to get rid of the NG tube in his nose and on his face. I’m scared because you never know how long he will have a G-tube and it is back to the OR for this and back on the ventilator and weaning that and that never is “easier” either. To continually watch him endure is so traumatic for him and us.

Keep us in prayer continually, we know y’all do. We love y’all. Thank you for being part of our ongoing journey.