Help accepting child’s condition

[Djockey101]

Hi all
my daughter was born with a congenital heart defect. It is mild but will require monitoring for the rest of her life most unlikely unless it resolves itself by the time she is two (she has pulmonary stenosis).
I am struggling so much to accept her condition and the anxiety is out of control. It’s now affecting my marriage because I’m constantly panicking about her and devastated about the news and my husband is at the end of his tether. He said the anxiety is crushing me.
any heart mums out there who can offer advice on how to accept these conditions and move forward and be happy again? I just wish more than anything she didn’t have this.
thank you x

My DD had a congenital heart condition. The pain as parents was almost unbearable. The most help and reassurance I got was from the charitable support group for her condition - you can share your anxieties and get reassurance.

She has every chance to live a happy and fulfilled life - your anxiety is more likely to be a problem for her and your relationship.

i also found it helpful to talk about risks and possibilities and that really helped too if you are a statistics kind of person.

You need to ask for some professional help. Sounds like you could be heading for a breakdown or PTSD otherwise. Go and see your GP and/or sign up for an online therapist like better health.

Actually. I may have jumped the gun a bit. How old is your daughter? You may just need to grieve and readjust, which can take a long time.

Not exactly the same as in it's nothing to do with heart conditions but when my son was born in 1999 8 weeks early and then diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at 2 weeks old it hit me like a ton of bricks and all I could think was that he is gonna die he is gonna die. I think it's a somewhat normal reaction to being told something devastating and it did take me a good few years to get my anxiety under control and to calm down about the whole thing (I don't mean that in a dismissive way) my doctor prescribed antidepressants and that helped a lot. I hope you are able to get whatever help you need to be able to cope with this because it's an awful way to live and I'm sending you love xx