Little Heart Warrior

I had the honor to do miss Katie's First Birthday session and wanted to write a little about her in honor of February being Heart Awareness Month!  Katie is such a sweetie pie and I had so much fun with her session! She has the cutest little face and adorable personality! When her mom contacted me to do her session, she mentioned she wanted to get some photos to celebrate Katie's journey and all she has endured her first year of life and I was honored to be a part of that. To be only one year old, Katie has been through SO much in her first year of life than most of us ever will in our lifetime!

On February 4th, 2018, Katie was born with a heart condition called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS). It is a common congenital heart defect that involves an underdeveloped left ventricle. HLHS will commonly require 3 stages of surgery; the first being at birth, then again at 3-6 months and at 2-3 years old. Katie has already had two surgeries so far and will get another around 2-3 years old. She spent 6 weeks in the hospital when she was born. Her immune system is not as strong as most due to her having HLHS, so her family must be careful so she doesn't get sick and be hospitalized. As you can see in the photo of Katie- she has her beads. Those beads symbolize just how much her little body has been through and just how far she has come on her journey. They symbolize how many days she has spent in the hospital, blood draws, x-rays, ECG's, surgeries, heart caths, and just how much of a little WARRIOR she is!