Today is a huge milestone for us as it marks a full year after surgery for Molly.
The emotion and anxiety we had while waiting for her to come out of surgery will stay with us forever.
Since she underwent surgery for her complete AVSD, the change in her has been remarkable. We have such a healthy and happy little girl now compared to how she was before. We also have some normality back in our lives after our difficult first year and so many visits to hospital.
We keep highlighting things we feel need improvement. We've tried to raise awareness of CHD generally and the importance of the 20 week scan. We want to encourage discussion about current screening guidelines and practices. We feel we owe this to Molly after all she went through. But, it's important to point out that all our negative experiences were before Molly's CHD diagnosis.
Today we feel it's important to stress that once Molly got her diagnosis, the level of care and support we have received has been first class. The surgeon and everyone at LGI had an equal part to play in her surgery and successful recovery. We're forever grateful to everyone there.
We were also moved by the work of the Childrens Heart Surgery Fund in providing us accommodation throughout. We were extremely grateful for the tireless work of the family run Millie Wright Children's Charity. They provided us with food and drinks during our stay there. We've since learned of the Tiny Tickers Charity and the phenomenal work their dedicated staff do to try and improve antenatal detection rates.
Our local consultant, the cardiologists we now see in the joint clinics and all NHS professionals we have encountered since diagnosis have been incredible.
We recognise these NHS professionals give their absolute best, under extremely difficult circumstances following 15 years of austerity. It's clear considerable investment is needed in all areas of the NHS - including maternity services.
Today we felt it was important to recognise the hard work and dedication of all the medical professionals and those in the charities that have helped us since. We know Molly wouldn't be here without them.
Thank you so much to everyone that has helped and supported us throughout