I heart Faces

It's been quite a while since I posted an entry in an i♥faces (http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/) weekly challenge. Usually I just gaze at all of the awesome entries and enjoy everyone elses photography. This week, though, not only do I have an awesome photo to share, but a very sweet story that goes along with it. Sometimes I think the story behind the photo makes it even better.





























One day late in the summer of 2008 I got a call from my sister telling me she was pregnant with her second baby. I was happy for her. A few weeks later she got a phone call from me telling her that I was pregnant with my fourth baby. We commiserated together about how tough pregnancy can be. Face it, morning (ALL DAY) sickness sucks.

A few weeks into our pregnancies Sis called me to tell me that they had found out they were having a boy, but that they had also gotten some rough news. It looked like their baby had something wrong with his heart. After some testing and visits with a pediatric cardiologist they learned that Brodie has Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. https://health.google.com/health/ref/Hypoplastic+left+heart+syndrome
Basically, the left half of his heart didn't develop and his body is functioning supported by half a heart.

Brodie was born May 1 via c-section with a whole team of doctors and nurses there to attend to any possible medical issue that might arise. 20 days later his cousin Xander was born, shocking us all with the revelation that he, too, was a boy (we thought he was girl #4 for us). So far Brodie, such a sweet little love, has had two open heart surgeries; one just days after his birth, and one when he was five months old. About a month before that second surgery was when this photo was taken.

We were able to go to visit them and officially meet Brodie for the first time last September. My sister and I laughed that our boys were going to be bestest friends. When it was their nap time we laid them down next to one another in the bassinet. They would coo together, drool together, and look curiously at each other. Basically they played together as much as a couple of 4 month old babies (who can't even roll over yet) could. Sweetest thing ever. And then one afternoon during their nap I went over to check on them and our boys were holding hands.

I snatched up my camera and took the shot. These boys are seriously going to be pals for life.