Angie (Frisco, Texas)

Our third baby girl, Hannah, was born on March 17, 2015 with two birth defects.  She had a special heart and her esophagus didn’t connect, this was called a TEF. The TEF needed to be corrected quickly, since she couldn’t eat. She had her first surgery at 3 days old.

We should have been in the hospital 2 weeks to one month.  She had complication after complication and our hospital stay was much longer than planned. I always had a special song for each of my girls. A song I sang to them as I rocked them, Hannah had a whole album.

A good friend gifted the I Dream of You album. Our days in the hospital, I played it on repeat, so she would hear the sweet music and not all the machines. I sang to her and especially sang, When I’m with You. Hannah ended up with a central line leak that caused fluid behind her spine, that led to paralysis. After seven long months in the hospital, a trach and gtube, a ton of surgery, and an ocean of tears we brought our sweet girl home on hospice. She had developed pulmonary vein stenosis and was terminal. Extremely rare - of course.

We had to take classes on how to care for her and had nurses in our home 24 hours a day, every day. It felt like too much for anyone. It was so unfair to watch our sweet baby girl struggle so much. She was so innocent and it was excruciating to not be able to fix it, but she was happy. She was thriving and loved. Through all of it we played JJ’s album over and over.

They gave her a month when we brought her home but she lived 7 more months. She was able to spend Christmas and her first birthday with us. Our sweet Hannah died on May 6, 2016.

Now that she is gone, my older two girls still listen to the I Dream of You album every night to go to sleep. It is calming and sweet for everyone in our family. Thank you for blessing our family with your gift of music. It made the worst time in our lives a little sweeter. Our baby girl suffered so much, but she only knew love. She was well loved and so were we.

Literally, we were carried through by so many people. God didn’t fix it like we prayed but he placed people in our lives to walk us though it. He provided for us over and over through so many people in ways I can’t even describe. As hard as it was and will be for the rest of my life, I am thankful for being chosen to be her mommy (and the mommy of her sisters). She was the strongest person I have ever known.