Nola’s dad and I met during my senior year of college and had a whirlwind romance. We were married a year later and took our honeymoon in New Orleans, LA (not knowing this would be what we would name our daughter after 5 years later). We always dreamed of having kids and in August of 2018 that dream became a reality when we found out we were pregnant. Unfortunately, we suffered a miscarriage in the fall and were heartbroken. We mourned that loss and prayed that we would have a baby soon. That prayer was answered on February 4, 2019 when we found out we were pregnant again. Fast forward to June and we found out we were having a healthy little girl. Three days after learning she was a girl, we were devastated to learn that she had 3^rd degree congenital heart block. We were told that she would need a pacemaker at birth, but otherwise should live a happy and healthy life.  

Our Nola Grace was born on September 24, 2019 and was the most beautiful baby we had ever seen. She had her pacemaker surgery at 6 days old and we took her home a little under a week later. We spent two months loving every minute with our sweet girl. Around December, Nola went for a pacemaker check and the doctor noticed she was pale and breathing fast. That was when we learned she was in heart failure and her left ventricle was enlarged. We stayed in the hospital for a week to get on medication that should have fixed the problem. However, by Christmas she was losing weight and her symptoms had not improved. We were hospitalized again on January 3^rd to get a feeding tube and adjust her medications. She began to gain weight, but her heart failure symptoms and labs were not improving. We were moved to the PICU on January 9^th to start IV medication in hopes that would help. However, after a few days, she was not improving and her labs looked worse than ever. We were then informed that the best course of action for Nola would be to receive a heart transplant and she was listed two days later.  

Nola recieved her heart transplant on February 21, 2020. She remains hospitalized as she heals and grows stronger. We are staying with her and amazed each day with how strong she is.She is the strongest little girl we have ever met. She faces every challenge with her feisty spirit and shows us just what it means to be tough! We could not be more proud to have Nola as our daughter and are so blessed we were chosen to be her parents.

We are fortunate to be surrounded by some of the best cardiologists, surgical team, nurses, respitory therapists, and care staff possible to take care of our girl. They have been amazed by her strength and tenacity throughout this whole journey. We are forever indebted to the staff caring for her and for her selfless and gracious donor family for giving her a gift of life.

The Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) helps children and young adults who need a life-saving transplant by providing fundraising assistance and family support. COTA is the nation’s only fundraising organization solely dedicated to raising life-saving dollars in honor of transplant-needy children and young adults. 100% of each contribution made to COTA in honor of our patients helps meet transplant-related expenses. COTA’s services are free to our families, and gifts to COTA are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.