Josephine Allyn NovickTorres
We tried for 2 years to have our beautiful baby girl and after all the excitement and reality of becoming parents was coming true we learned at 19 weeks that our miracle child had a life threatening heart defect. We were given the option to terminate but we hoped for the best and couldn’t imagine giving up our daughter. After changing our doctors to deliver near CHOC and a long delivery, Josephine Allyn Novick-Torres made her debut at full term on August 30, 2024. CHOC was there for the delivery to evaluate Josie and bring her to CHOC NICU right away. Within 15 minutes of her life Momma got to hold her, hear her beautiful cry, Mom and grandma escorted her to NICU, she started to turn blue in her limbs, and she was given PGE medication to keep her blood oxygenated and flowing to her heart. Our daughter’s fetal diagnosis of Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) had become a reality. And even worse than expected, with Pulmonary Atresia meaning she did not have a pulmonary valve at all. Despite all the scary wires, pacers, monitors, IV’s, and oxygen tubes we saw our daughter. She has had a long fight but you’d never know it seeing her. Josie and her parents lived at CHOC for 52 days. During that time the great minds of the cardiovascular team watched her progress and decided the best course was to put a stent in her heart to keep her blood flowing without the medication. Weeks later we finally got to go home at 7 weeks old. As Josephine slowly grew bigger and stronger with a fighting heart you couldn’t deny that she was the most beautiful thing. 5 months came quick enough and Josephine‘s heart was repaired on February 11, 2025. Josephine’s full heart repair surgery was successful with a few surprise findings at the skillful hands of the surgeon and staff. Josephine proved her fight and determination to the amazing doctors and nurses on the CVICU unit at CHOC through a fast recovery and speedy discharge home. She was the first patient to be discharged from the new CVICU. Josephine is a strong survivor and she is growing beautifully. She loves reading, eating, to sing and talk, and laughs with her cousins. She is the best gift we could ask for as parents and thank CHOC for saving her life and giving us the opportunity to raise her. This year we decided to join the CHOC walk for the first time as form of giving back to a great organization that helped us save our baby girl, give her many chances of a full life, and will continue to be in our lives forever. Any proceeds will be greatly appreciated.
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