“Racing” From Bump to Smash! | Charlotte, NC | Kira Jeffrey Photography
This sweet warrior boy was diagnosed with Tetrology of Fallot the day after being born after a nurse noticed a heart murmur while he was in the NICU – this is a combination of four defects that result in oxygen-poor blood to flow out of the heart and into the body. (It was suspected that he had a heart condition during pregnancy, but was not confirmed.) Even though this condition can be fatal in cases, he had his surgery at the end of March and it was a successful repair!
Mama said that at almost six months post operation, he’s now going 100mph all day, every day and you wouldn’t know that he had anything wrong with him! He loves racing around the kitchen in his walker, getting into everything he can and constantly making his family laugh. He doesn’t let anything hold him back and is currently teaching himself how to stand and walk.
Head to the bottom of the blog to read Mama’s story in her own words!
“Lucien is so much braver than I am”
“I was really scared at first because I didn’t know how this would effect him in the long term. I spent the first 6 months of his life in constant fear. Lucien is so much braver than I am. The kid is just fearless. My moms dad, who is his great grandfather calls him our Oak because he says he’s strong like an oak tree. They both have matching scars too because he’s also had heart surgery. We took him up to Michigan recently where I’m from and he finally met my grand parents for the first time. That was a moment we had been praying for since he was born. We wanted him to be healthy enough to be able to travel so he could meet the rest of his family and that moment was really incredible. I know I’ve told you about Lucien’s stranger danger. When he met my papa. He picked Lucien up and gave him a hug and held him and Lucien hugged him back like they had never been strangers.”
“The one thing I can say too is that prenatal testing can really make the biggest difference, especially if you’re high risk like I was. If we hadn’t known they already thought he had a heart issue, it could have gone undetected especially because the symptoms can be vague unless they have a cyanotic episode. That’s why TOF are called “blue babies”, they literally turn blue.”
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