Heart to Heart with Anna

Heart Sister, CHD Advocate and Heart Mom

March 19, 2018 Kristi Gimpel Season 11 Episode 10
Heart Sister, CHD Advocate and Heart Mom
Heart to Heart with Anna
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Heart to Heart with Anna
Heart Sister, CHD Advocate and Heart Mom
Mar 19, 2018 Season 11 Episode 10
Kristi Gimpel

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Kristi Gimpel has a remarkable story. As a little girl, her younger sister had to undergo multiple open-heart surgeries. Kristi tells Anna about who took care of her, how she felt about her sister, especially when other children were curious about her sister's condition and how her mother taught her to be an advocate instead of being angry. Unbeknownst to Kristi, her first child would also be born with a congenital heart defect. Kristi shares the story of her pregnancy and her daughter's birth with Anna and she gives advice to parents in families where there is a heart-healthy child as well as a child with a chronic illness.

We appreciate it when people support Hearts Unite the Globe podcasts. Thank you to our newest supporters -- Annie Ulchak (Patreon) and Judy Miller (Buzzsprout)!

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Show Notes Transcript

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Kristi Gimpel has a remarkable story. As a little girl, her younger sister had to undergo multiple open-heart surgeries. Kristi tells Anna about who took care of her, how she felt about her sister, especially when other children were curious about her sister's condition and how her mother taught her to be an advocate instead of being angry. Unbeknownst to Kristi, her first child would also be born with a congenital heart defect. Kristi shares the story of her pregnancy and her daughter's birth with Anna and she gives advice to parents in families where there is a heart-healthy child as well as a child with a chronic illness.

We appreciate it when people support Hearts Unite the Globe podcasts. Thank you to our newest supporters -- Annie Ulchak (Patreon) and Judy Miller (Buzzsprout)!

Support the Show.

Anna's Buzzsprout Affiliate Link

Baby Blue Sound Collective

Social Media Pages:

Apple Podcasts
Facebook
Instagram
MeWe
Twitter
YouTube
Website

spk_0:   0:00
Theo

spk_1:   0:05
Theo. The 11th Season of Heart to Heart with Anna. Our theme this season is Heart Warrior siblings, and we have a great show for you today. Today's program is Heart sister, congenital heart defect advocate and heart Mom and our guest is Christy Gimple. Kristy Campbell was born in 1984 2 years later, her little sister Megan was born. Unlike Kristi, Megan had problems with her heart. She was born with hypoplastic right heart syndrome and would need multiple surgeries to survive. Christie will be sharing with us in the first segment what it was like to have a younger sister who had a chronic illness. She'll tell us what she remembers and have the people in her life when she was a child. Continue to play a role in her life. Today is they've been two of the program. Christy will tell us how her mother taught her to be an advocate for the congenital heart defect community. And in the final segment, Christy will talk with us about how her life changed after she married her husband, Nick Kimball, and what it was like for her to get pregnant. Lastly, she'll talk to us about how having a sister with a chronic illness affected her as a parent. So welcome to heart to heart with Anna Christie.

spk_2:   1:13
Hi, Anna. Thanks so much for having me today.

spk_1:   1:16
Well, I'm excited to meet you, Christie. I've known your sister for a while, so let's find out how old you were when Megan had her first open heart surgery. And what do you remember from that surgery?

spk_2:   1:31
Well, I was about two years old. We're less than two years apart. So when she was born, she had her first surgery. She continued to have surgeries when I was about two years old. Thio around four years old. That is the time where I have some of my first memory.

spk_1:   1:48
Really? You have some of your first memory from that time. Okay. What do you remember?

spk_2:   1:53
So my first memories are actually memories of Childrens Hospital. Most of her, actually. All of her surgeries were from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, so I have very vivid memories of the hospital, the hospital layout, visiting her in her hospital crib. My dad's taking me thio. Visit her. We actually have Ah, kind of a funny family story that's always talked about where my mom reprimands my dad for letting me dress myself on some of these occasions so I would show up

spk_1:   2:24
to

spk_2:   2:24
the hospital mismatch one purple sock, one pink sock and a green jumper because I was allowed to dress my health before the visit. Those are actually my My first childhood memory is going to visit my sister. I remember what the nurses station looked like. I can detail. Police is in the hospital that we don't have any pictures off, so I know it's a genuine memory. My mommy, my mom's always been impressed by what I can remember about the layout of the hospital at that time.

spk_1:   2:52
Wow, obviously, that made a big impression on you. Do you remember if you felt scared or excited or happy or sad?

spk_2:   3:02
I do remember feeling really excited to go see my sister. I have a memory of not seeing her a lot. I actually remember that absence, so I know when I went to see her, I was really excited. I was also excited to see my parents because I didn't get to see my parents often during that time. I don't have a lot of bad memories. Be honest. I didn't fully understand the severity of what was happening at a time, either, though I wasn't informed of the life or death situations. All I knew is that I got to go see Megan that day. I know I was really excited to see my little sister.

spk_1:   3:41
Oh, that's so wonderful. And I think it's cute that you dress yourself and that maybe it wasn't perfect. Oh,

spk_2:   3:48
no, definitely was Nowhere near perfect.

spk_1:   3:53
I think that's great. I love that story. That's just so awesome. How interesting it is that your mom would scold your dad even

spk_2:   4:02
to this day. We still talk about that.

spk_1:   4:05
Oh my gosh, she's so funny. So who were you staying with? If your parents were up at the hospital with your sister

spk_2:   4:11
during the time Megan was in the hospital, I feed with different relatives and different friends. I stay with my grand parents for a short time, and then two different sets of aunt and uncle. But most of the time I say the predominant amount of time that I remember. At least I was staying with my parents, friends from church, and their names are Sherry and Jim holes were and they had two Children. Their daughter is my age. She's only seven months or than me. So we went to preschool together. Her name is Teresa. Teresa has an older brother named Jimmy, who's now Jim. But he was Jimmy when we were growing up and I stayed with. The holes were family, so I lived with them. They lived very close in our neighborhood. I continued to go to the same preschool. I became a part of their family for an extended length of time. My basically was just like another little sister in that family.

spk_1:   5:06
Isn't it wonderful that another family took you in and just treated you like one of their own? It doesn't sound like there was any terrific interruption in your daily life except that you were living with, said their family. But they kept everything to say for you that kept the preschool the same for you. It sounds like they kept your friends the same, so it really reduce not how scary it would have been for you.

spk_2:   5:28
Yes, absolutely. And you really don't understand that or realize that until you're an adult with your own Children. But at the time if you think about it. I didn't change a church. I went to the same church every Sunday. I didn't change my school. I was still going to the same preschool with my best friend Teresa. That continued the pattern and this. I mean, there was no interruption. I think that made a huge impact just on the fact that nothing was horrific. Lee changed. But you don't realize that until you're older and you look back and say, Wow, that really helps.

spk_1:   6:04
Yeah, And it really took a lot of effort. There were a lot of people who were surrounding you with love at that time, and it obviously made you feel safe and it made you feel okay to the point where oh, I get to go see making today I give to go see Mom and Dad and it wasn't tear filled and said it was excitement felt

spk_2:   6:21
exactly. There was a huge village of people that helped. I was very fortunate to have family where I could say because that time being in a family that struggling with someone that's medically fragile in any situation can be really terrifying and you feel isolated as a child. What I remember. I don't remember any isolation, which is very good. And it definitely it more healthy away to grow up.

spk_1:   6:47
Absolutely. I hope your parents were listening to the program because kudos to them, they were able to figure out a way to still make you feel safe. And for you to be able to continue your life while they were attending to your very sick little sister. And I hope your adopted family, our family, Yeah, no doctors. There they are. I'm not scary

spk_2:   7:11
is absolutely always been my second mom. And that's always refer to her. She is definitely a mom, and Theresa is, of course, the closest I've ever had to an older sister. So she was an instant best friend and we're still very close to this day.

spk_1:   7:27
I just love that. Well, it seems very common for our heart Parents, tohave, heart, worrier, babies and heart healthy preschoolers. I had the same situation. I've talked to multiple people this season where they were a preschooler, and then a baby was born with a heart defect. So what advice would you give your parents who are in that same situation?

spk_2:   7:47
I think the most valuable advice I can give from the perspective of the heart healthy Cree score is you should not be worrying about how much time you dedicate each child. I think that's a natural worry for parents. I mean, obviously your heart warrior baby is going to require an incredible amount of time and energy. I guess parents just feel like they have to spend an equal amount of time with their heart healthy pre score, and it's not always possible to do so. I just want to tell them that it's okay. You don't get it. And I mean that emphatically. It's really okay. We understand. It definitely has missile. I understand that you'll never need to spend an equal amount of time during that period of time where so much attention is being paid to the child with a heart need. I feel like parents sometimes think the Children are going to hold that against them or resent them, and that's just not true. It's gonna be okay. Don't ever feel like you have to equal that time or spread yourself thin.

spk_1:   8:51
Oh my gosh, I wish you had been talking to me when Alex was in the hospital. Christie, I feel tears coming. No, truly. I feel tears in my eyes right now. You have no idea how much guilt there is. What, You're married now, so you know. But I've worried so much that Joey would be scared or that Joe, we would You know what I think this thing that scared me the most was What if something happened to Alex? How would I usually net to Joey? You know, especially it's Joey had been the center of my universe.

spk_2:   9:24
I truly feel that even today, I don't remember the absence. I remember our time together, and I wish I could have been there to tell my mom and especially my mom. But both of my parents kind of coach them through and say, You know, it's gonna be okay. Focus on Megan. You know, you'll have the rest of your lives, the focus on me and him. But parents don't often hear that. They think I'm spending all this time with the child. That's obviously in a fragile position, and they feel guilty about that. And I know that my mom even say, still feel guilty about that. And no matter how many times I tell her it's OK, It's fine.

spk_3:   10:03
I don't remember ceilings neglected

spk_2:   10:07
or isolated because I was everybody was there for me.

spk_3:   10:11
Take this hot industry. We're offering us a mechanical hot, and he said, now that I've had enough to give it to someone who would be My father promised me a golden dressed twirling held my hand and asked me where I wanted to go. Whatever stripe for conflict that we experienced in our long career together was always healed by humor. Heart

spk_0:   10:32
to heart With Michael Please join us every Thursday at noon Eastern as we talk with people from around the world who have experienced those most difficult moments.

spk_3:   10:40
Anna Dworsky has written several books to empower the congenital Heart Defect or C H D community. These books could be found at amazon dot com or at her Web site, www dot baby hearts press dot com. Her best seller is The Heart of a Mother, an anthology of stories written by women for women in the CHD community and as other books. My brother needs an operation, the Heart of a Father and hypoplastic left heart syndrome. A handbook for parents will help you understand that you are not alone. Visit baby hearts press dot com to find out more.

spk_0:   11:18
Okay, you are listening to heart to heart with AMA. If you have a question or comment that you would like to dress down show, please send an email to Anna Dworsky at Anna at heart to heart with anna dot com. That's Anna at heart to heart with anna dot com Now back to heart to heart with

spk_1:   11:38
Before the break. Christy, you were talking with me about what it was like to be the big sister Thio, a baby who was born with a heart defect. But let's fast forward now and talk about what it was like when you and your sister were in elementary school together.

spk_2:   11:53
Elementary school for me and I think for all Children is really the first time where you venture outside of the home for social situations. This was the first time where I really started to notice how different my sister Waas compared to other siblings and just compared to other Children. I guess I was oblivious to how different she was before that. Or maybe I just didn't care or a combination off. But when I started attending grade school, I noticed that my classmates had a ton of questions about my sister for score. Why she was in a stroller. And here I was, the seven year old kid trying to playing teach these two other seven year old kids. At first it was honestly, it was embarrassing. I know it's awful to say that, but it was embarrassing for me toe explain all these things to my classmates, and and then it became really frustrating because obviously the other first and second graders didn't understand. And so I wanted to defend my little sister. I had a like a natural, you know, inmate defense mechanism that kicked in. But then I also wanted her to be normal, so I didn't have to defend her. It was a weird balance that I had thio strike at a young age, but before elementary school, I really didn't realize how different she was at all. It wasn't until I had that standard of comparison,

spk_1:   13:22
and it's totally normal as far as you knew. She was your little sister and everybody dealt with the same issues that you did because you had no person because it sounds like a shish. You and your sister. There were no other older siblings.

spk_2:   13:34
It was just being like this certain so other than Theresa and Jimmy, with whom I lived for the time period that my sister was in the hospital, I didn't have a lot of other comparisons or standards to see what other families looked like. And I don't think a lot of two and three year old d'oh you know other

spk_1:   13:52
things

spk_2:   13:53
within their own family.

spk_1:   13:54
So

spk_2:   13:55
elementary schools that first time where people outside of the situation that had no idea who Megan Waas or what she went through started to ask questions.

spk_1:   14:05
Now, did your mother and father talk to you about your sister has, ah heart problem? Or was it just obvious because there was this big scar on her chest? I d'oh,

spk_2:   14:19
yes, there were multiple conversations that my parents had with me about my sister's heart. I remember learning at a very, very young age, and I need preschool kindergarten, finding out how my sister's heart worked, because I think my mom was the 1st 1 that said, My sister's heart pumps blood differently than mine. So I knew at a very young age that my heart pumps blood through it in one way, and Megan did it in the reverse, and that was kind of my go to explanation when people asked about her scar. So it's really easy to say my sister had heart surgery. If there was any follow up questions as a child, I kind of had, Oh, well, they changed how her blood pumps through. And usually at that point, adults are so impressed by that answer from a five or six year old that they stop asking questions that kind of ended. The conversation are turned into like a friendly nod. And, um, okay, that's great. And so that was like, Go to answer for a while there.

spk_1:   15:25
My gosh, that's awesome! That's good that they didn't expect you to know even more than that, because that actually was a lot more a little girl to know. Well, what was the event that taught you about becoming an advocate and who was responsible for teaching you to turn your anger? Because I think it's normal to be defensive for your sister and to be angry. So who taught you how to turn that anger into advocacy?

spk_2:   15:51
one day it was in elementary school. Actually, I was really upset that all my friends were asking about Megan being in the stroller. I don't think they were trying to be mean. It was just normal, curious kids. They said something along the lines of your sister's five. Why she's still in a baby stroller. I got really upset. I actually remember crying to my mom about this, she suggested telling the students in my class felt my sister surgeries and her special needs. So instead of just having informal conversations with my friends that asked actually doing a presentation to my second grade class, just telling them, You know how Megan got winded really easily and she couldn't walk long distances. Tow, walk the six or seven blocks to and from school would be too much for her, and that's why she was in a stroller. So one day my mom talked to my secondary teacher, gave me a couple of pictures from the hospital, and we went in and we spoke to my class about it. I talked in detail about my sister scar and how she had surgery when she was a baby, but my mom was really the one that spearheaded that she was the one that said it's better to explain the information to them. And she really wanted Thio quell the questioning a bit from my friend. But she also wants to advocate for Ch D at the same time. So it was my mom who was able to kind of defend both of her daughter's at the same time in that situation. So she is the one that taught me

spk_1:   17:23
that is just so wonderful, and I can just picture the two of you doing it. I hope you have some photos from that time, but if you don't clearly, it's imprinted in your head. I mean, it sounds like an event that you'll never forget.

spk_2:   17:37
Absolutely, it is unforgettable. It's one of the first times that I remember standing in front of a large group on being asked questions. It was not as nerve racking as you would think. My mom was there with me, so I remember my mom standing there with me and helping the answer Any questions. I know that my teacher was proud of me for standing in front of the class and wanting to explain things about my sister. I think that was a really healthy and positive way to answer my classmates concerned. I know from that point on, it was just a lot easier for me to address the question.

spk_1:   18:14
It sounds like overnight you became an advocate for the CHD community and that was a very natural thing for you to do. Do you still take part in CHD activities today?

spk_2:   18:27
Oh yes, I think that kind of at the behest of my mom and my sister, I started getting more into HD advocacy, obviously a very grassroots level. I'll always be taking part in what I consider an informal education. Just speaking up when I hear fictional information being tossed around or answering questions. If I'm in a discussion with other parents or if I'm in a discussion with other people about congenital heart defect, many people don't realize how common it is. So I think that's where my advocacy for CHD starts is just by correcting that false information or talking about my own experiences in a more formal sense, I advocate in the form of fundraisers. My sister is part of planning a fundraiser that is annually held in Philadelphia it's called Keep the Beat. The fundraiser benefits the Children's Heart Foundation. My sister Megan, and her friend Melissa Teresi are the co founders of this, and my sister is still important and strategic in the planning of the event. Every year they can take it to new heights every year and make more money for the foundation. So I participate in that event and I attend donate, and it's a lot of fun. And it's just a great part of advocacy that's also educating people.

spk_1:   19:52
Oh, I love it. When I was the vice president of the Texas Children's Heart Foundation chapter, I went to their annual event and we were always impressed with the Philadelphia Ladies. Oh,

spk_2:   20:07
yes, they are impressive.

spk_1:   20:10
They're very dynamic, and they've really done fabulous job of getting the entire community. I mean, I think they had some things that they auctioned off at one point from the Philadelphia Eagles, and they had a lot of support. So I'm happy to hear that you were

spk_0:   20:26
part of that. A

spk_1:   20:27
swell that's fabulous

spk_4:   20:36
tonight, forever by the Baby Blue Sound collective. I think what I love so much about this CD is that some of the songs were inspired by the patient's many listeners will understand many of the different songs and what they've been inspired. Our new album will be available on iTunes. Amazon dot com. Spotify. I love the fact that the proceeds from this CD are actually going to help those with congenital heart defects. Enjoy the music home

spk_1:   21:04
tonight forever, Christie. Before the break, we were talking about what it was like for you in elementary school. And, of course, that was quite a while ago. Now I'd like this segment for us to talk about your pregnancy. What was it like for you when you first got pregnant?

spk_2:   21:26
My first pregnancy was nerve racking. I think that it's nerve racking for a lot of people.

spk_1:   21:33
Yes, normally,

spk_2:   21:34
you know, your first time being pregnant, you're out. Everything generally was a normal pregnancy. I had a really healthy, normal pregnancy up until 33 weeks. Quite honestly, I was just care that I would have a baby with a heart defect, specifically Hypo Plastic Right Heart syndrome, because that's what my sister was born with. All of those negative memories or comments made by my parents at that time kept coming up in conversations, but all of my tests came back normal. So I was constantly reassuring by all the doctors and the genetic counselor that my likelihood of having a child with a heart defect was no more increase than anybody else in the general population. That the fact that my sister had a THD really would not impact my child. Other than that, my first pregnancy with create. And then at 33 weeks, I went in for my normal bi weekly checkup with my doctor and the doctor put the Doppler onto my stomach, as they normally do, and we heard my daughter's heart beat and it was incredibly fast. And even me with an untrained ear knew that was way too fast for what it had sounded like in past weeks. So my doctor sent us to the hospital as a precaution to be checked out. I didn't know this at the time, and I found out later that as soon as I left the office building, my doctor had called his partner in his practice. That was over at labor and delivery at the time and scheduled me for an emergency C section because he knew even by hearing that heartbeat that something really bad was happening. He didn't know exactly what was happening at that point. But I found out later that he had already called the hospital to schedule a C section. And when I showed up, they did not tell me that yet because they did not want to worry me. I was able to see another genetic counselor when I got there and a fetal cardiologists who let me know that my daughter had an atrial flutter.

spk_1:   23:41
Wow, So your doctor already was way ahead of you. He had already planned the C section for you. So did you deliver the baby early?

spk_2:   23:50
I did. I wound up delivering Cameron at 33 weeks that very next day. So by the time I left the doctor's office building to the hospital, there was only a three hour different. Basically, just enough time to arrive at the hospital, get put on to a heart monitor, speak to a couple experts in the cardiology field who identified pretty easily, actually through ultrasound that it was an atrial flutter. I was really angry when I found this out because I had been constantly reassured throughout my pregnancy that my child did not have a heart defect. And that was always my first question. You know, after every Doppler after at Realtor, Sam near the heart looks okay. And I was always told you everything is normal and then the common at 33 weeks, kind of in the home stretch and he told your daughter is not okay. She has the nature of water. I was angry. I was really, really upset and they explained it to me that the atrial flutter could have shown up at any time. It could have just popped up at some point in my 32nd week of pregnancy or in my 31st week of pregnancy. But the important thing was that they were able to identify it, and now they were able to work out a treatment solution. They have toyed around with giving me medication and seeing if that would have an effect on the baby. But her heartbeat was so fast, the heart rate was well into the upper two hundreds that they really opted for getting her out. They said it would just be easier to treat her loss. She was outside of me better than inside. So that's why I had the Emergency C section and she was born on ST Patrick's Day. Actually, though, she is an Irish baby born on thing. Patrick,

spk_1:   25:34
that's kind of perfect, isn't it?

spk_2:   25:37
Did work out at the time. I didn't appreciate the irony of the situation, but now that she's heart healthy and turning eight years old, it's really nice that she has the birthday on thing. Patrick today.

spk_1:   25:48
Oh my goodness. So she's a years old. Good. We can all breathe a sigh of relief. Okay, It's not okay, but what did they attribute that atrial flutter to

spk_2:   25:58
so they could not tell me, even to this day, what would have caused the atrial flutter? Basically, what I was told is that it's not genetic. Atrial flutters happen in families where they've never seen atrial flutters. Its not necessarily connected to my sister CHD. And my husband doesn't have any Nietzschean his family. So they said it honestly just kind of comes out of nowhere. It usually resolved itself with medication. They told me that there was no way, even with a seal echocardiogram to have detected it, because it's one thing that it's not there 31 weeks and I have a feel echocardiogram. At 31 weeks, they won't be able to tell, but then it could show up at 32 weeks. So with my pregnancies after Cameron, I did have multiple feel echo cardiograms to specifically look for atrial flutters.

spk_1:   26:57
Now is that life threatening? Is that why they felt they had to take her right away? Because I went into labor early with my second child and they told me, Oh, no, he's better off inside of you Forest long as possible and I went home. It was on bed rest for two weeks so we could make it to 36 weeks. Because for my doctor, 36 weeks was magical because the lungs were better formed, weren't they a little bit worried, taking her early like that, that maybe the lungs wouldn't be formed? Or that there might be some other problem with delivering her so early?

spk_2:   27:30
Yes, they openly discussed with me the options of either keeping her in and giving me medication. The problem with that is they didn't have enough time to allow the medication to get through my system and properly assessed. If her heart rate was going down fast enough with her heart rate as high as it was, it did become life threatening because they spoke about how the quick heart rate, at least in the upper 200 would weaken the heart muscles. And that would have a lasting effect on her after birth. And they didn't want to risk that. Normally, an atrial flutter is not life threatening, but because they didn't know how long she had it for. At that point in time, they knew it could have been anywhere from two weeks to just a couple hours. Because my last Doppler was on two weeks before that, they didn't want her to go into cardiac arrest. They wantedto get her out and be able to give her the medicine directly instead of waiting the time for it to go through my system and then get to her,

spk_1:   28:36
right, right. All of that makes perfect sense. So I'm assuming so. She's eight years old now that her lungs were okay and that even though they delivered her early that she still didn't suffer from massive problems,

spk_2:   28:49
no, they were able to give her steroids, which helped her long development. Other than waiting for that feeding instinct to come in. We didn't have any major issues when she was in the nick you. Obviously, the doctors told me about how the instinct for feeding and suckling really doesn't come in until you're 34 through 35th week. So she did struggle with feeding. For a while there she was on a feeding tube. Once she hit that 34 35 week mark, which means she was actually two weeks old

spk_1:   29:23
at that

spk_2:   29:23
point because she was outside, she did really well. She doesn't have any long issues or pressing issues today. She's definitely above average on the growth chart.

spk_1:   29:34
So you're

spk_2:   29:35
not an issue.

spk_1:   29:36
Oh, good, good. That's great. Well, my last question for you is what advice would you give to future heart moms? Now, you're not just the heart, sister. Your heart mom, too. Even though luckily, it sounds like everything with her has completely resolved, which I absolutely love. Is there anything particular that you're mom did which you feel was especially insightful. Having grown up with a heart warrior sister and being heart healthy yourself?

spk_2:   30:03
Yes, I think that both as a sibling and ah, heart Mom, which is funny. I don't even consider myself Ah, heart Mom. I know that sounds silly, but just considering how benign my daughter's heart defect was compared to my sisters, it's funny when people call me Ah, heart Mom. I don't even think of it that way. I think I learned just having to strike that balance between listening to medical professionals, but also go with your gut and it the weird balance to strike. And it's different with every family is different with every mom. But I thought my mom kind of struggle with wanting to speak up for herself and what she felt with better versus listening to the experts. I don't think you'll ever regret speaking up on behalf of your child. So that one piece of advice I think we kind of have to live by when you have a child with Beach Day. I also think that one thing I've noticed more in general, in motherhood and women lately is the ability to take care of oneself. And I didn't see that from my mom. I think this is something I learned from my mom, but in reverse, I don't remember her ever taking care of herself. I don't have any memories of it, and I think that she was really run ragged during this time. Sheriff were entering a new time with motherhood now, and it's a lot different than back in 1986 and feeling women are so much more supportive of each other. And we're so much more aware of medically fragile Children. I just think you need to take time for yourself, be ableto lean on other moms and other parents and not feel guilty about that. Just take some time out and know that your child is not going to resent you in any way for taking care of yourself. One of my favorite quotes is that you can't pour from an empty cup, and I think my mom tried to do that a lot. She taught me that you will be a better caregiver and a better mom if you are in a good mental see and if you are in a healthy part of your own life, you taking care of yourself and therefore you can take care of other people.

spk_1:   32:16
I love it. I love it. Thank you so much for coming on the program today, Kristie.

spk_2:   32:22
Oh, thanks so much for having me.

spk_1:   32:23
This was a lot of fun. And that does conclude this episode of heart to heart with Anna. Thanks for listening today. Friends. Please come back next week on Tuesday at noon, Eastern time or any time. That's the great thing about the podcast. You can listen to it when it's convenient for you. Until then, please follow our show Heart to heart. With Anna on YouTube, you can find my show by looking under my name. Anna Gorski. And remember, my friends, you are not this'll.

spk_0:   32:50
Program is a presentation of hearts Unite the Globe and is part of the Hug Podcast Network March Tonight The Globe is a nonprofit organization devoted to providing resource is to the congenital heart defect community to uplift and power and enrich the lives of our community members. If you would like access to free resource is pertaining to the CHD community, please visit our website at www dot hug dash podcast network dot com for information about CHD, the hospitals that treat Children with CHD summer camps for CHD survivors and much, much more. Thank you again for joining us this week way Hope you have been inspired on Empowered to become an advocate for the congenital heart defect community. Heart to heart With Anna With your hose down, Jaworski can be heard every Tuesday at 12 noon Eastern time.

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