The Daddy Diary 2: Tom Petty was Close

You take it on faith
You take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part

Hearing that your baby girl has a severe heart defect is an emotional punch to the gut. Hearing that she has four heart defects is like taking a line drive to the groin on “I forgot to wear my cup” day. But telling me that we have to wait 3-5 more days for the surgery? Well, that’s just mean.

Okay, it’s not mean. The staff here is fantastic. Waiting is better for Audrey, and that’s all that matters. But remember when you were a kid and your mom would say, “You’re getting a spanking when your father gets home” then you would sit in a dreadful state until dad got home and got it over with? That’s how it feels. It’s kind of hard to look forward to anything until this is over.

The waiting sucks, but it isn’t the hardest part. The hardest part is watching your baby girl try to cry but she can’t because she has a breathing tube in her mouth. So when that happens, I go ahead and do the crying for her. God keeps rejecting my offer to trade places with her. I did let him know that anytime she is in pain, that offer stands for the rest of my life.