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💗 Baby King - our Precious Heart Warrior 💗

  • Harriet Arrives in the Deep South!

      16 October 2019
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    After 7 and half weeks the King family are finally back in the Deep South and oh it is so good to be home!!

    After sign off from the medical and surgical team at Starship, Harriet and I were transferred to Invercargill hospital to continue her care and help get her feeding up and running. Receiving this news that we were heading south and were one step closer to home was extra special. We were ready to be back home and introduce Harriet to the cooler temps and constant rolling rrrs.

    On the 9th October, Harriet and I boarded a Life Flight bound for Invercargill. A big thank you to the incredible medical and flight team for taking such good care of us and getting us back home safely.

    Following a few nights stay in Invercargill hospital for monitoring and feeding support, we have been discharged home (YAY!!) with lots of wrap around support to ensure Harriet continues to be closely monitored and cared for.

    We are loving being a little family of four and Hugo is absolutely smitten with his baby sister!

    We honestly can not thank everyone enough for their love and generosity over this time. This journey has been one hell of a ride this far and has certainly tested our strength and bravery but we could not be more proud of Harriet Jane. Every day she has shown her strength and courage and that she truely is little heart warrior.

    We will return to Starship when Harriet is 6 months old for her next open heart surgery and the next step in our journey.

    Thank you again and we love you all!

    Love The Kings x

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  • Harriets Update- 1st Oct 💗

      1 October 2019
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    6 days post surgery and Harriet is doing well. We have moved to the cardiac children’s ward in Starship and can now stay with our little button. We are certainly soaking up all of the newborn cuddles. Harriet particularly loves cuddles from her Dad!

    She is being monitored closely and we are starting to get other things up and running including feeding.

    She is growing stronger every day!

    We are hopeful that as she progresses a plan will be put in place for discharge and also a plan to progress towards her next surgery.

    We can’t wait to be a family of four again soon and embrace all of the craziness that will come with that, but for now we are where we need to be in the safe hands of a very skilled medical team.

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  • Brave little Harriet’s Update - Week 2

      26 September 2019
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    Our little trooper has had her first surgery! Over the weekend Harriet started to show us that she needed some medical input to keep her little heart going. Her condition had started to deteriorate so cardiac specialists and surgeons decided a surgical procedure would be required to help stabilise her to help her grow.

    On Wednesday 25.9.2019, Harriet had shunt surgery and a further septostomy to help keep her valve open and flowing and blood mixing. She will still need to wait for a few more months before having her arterial switch and mitral valve repaired to lower the risk of any complications. Post op she is doing well and showing us how strong (and a little sassy) our little girl is!

    We are so incredibly grateful for the care Harriet is receiving. Dr Kirsten Finucane is an amazingly talented surgeon and her medical team have been wonderful.

    Harriet is still in Paediatric ICU and we will be here until she is stable enough to lore to the cardiac ward.

    We can not begin to explain how thankful and grateful we are for our supportive friends and family. You are all absolutely amazing and we are so lucky to have your support over this tough time.

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  • An update from the Kings

      21 September 2019
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    Harriet is a week old now and every day she continues to show us her strength and bravery and that beautiful fighting spirit of hers. She is absolutely gorgeous and we are soaking up every moment of time with her.

    We were even lucky enough to share precious moments as a family of four and Hugo got to meet Harriet. Given the measles outbreak all visitors are restricted to wards including close family however the amazing medical team facilitated a short meet with Hugo for us. It was pure magic. Our hearts are so full with love and joy and it is a moment we will treasure forever. Hugo adores little Harriet and will be the best big brother!

    Harriet remains in NICU(Intensive Care). Following a few more scans and reviews, her cardiology team and surgeon have decided that performing open heart surgery at the moment poses to many high risks to our little Harriet and in her best interests they want to wait to perform surgery and monitor closely each week. They are keeping her stable and she is showing them how much of a little fighter she is. We are looking to transfer to a child cardiac ward soon and will remain in Auckland for some time longer for close monitoring.

    We can’t wait to be together as a family of four again soon but know for now we are in the best place possible.

    We hugely thank your ongoing support and love. It is keeping us strong for our little girl and it means the world to us to know she is so loved.

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  • ❤️ Harriet Jane Arrives ❤️

      15 September 2019
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    At Auckland Hospital on September 13, at 10.41am, Harriet Jane King was born ❤️ She is absolutely gorgeous & so very precious!

    She is stable at present in Intensive Care. The staff at the hospital have been nothing but incredible! So far she has had many procedures, scans and testing. The road is still unknown as to when her first surgery will be, but the specialist team will put a plan in place.

    This wee button has her mum’s strength & her dad’s courage and is a wee fighter!

    Lou & Ryan (and all of us) are so thankful and grateful for all the support, messages, love and amazing donations so far.

    Louise & Ryan are amazing parents and are a formidable team! Little Harriet is so lucky to have them as her parents ❤️

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