Quote about Pediatric Medicine...

"These are tiny humans. These are children. They believe in magic, they play pretend, there is fairy dust in their IV bags and they cross their fingers and they make wishes and that makes them more resilient than adults. They recover faster, survive worse. they believe. In Peds, we have miracles and magic and in Peds, anything is possible." ~ Grey's Anatomy

Random Quote

People in their right mind never take pride in their talents.

- To Kill A Mocking Bird - Harper Lee

Quote about Courage...

Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Quote...

There is no delight in owning anything unshared. --Seneca

Breath of Hope - What Support is About...

I'll lean on you and you lean on me and we'll be okay. --Dave Matthews Band

Life throws everyone a curb. It happens every day. No one can do it alone. When families are devastated by a diagnoses of congenital diaphragmatic hernia we know it can take many different paths. No two cases are exactly alike. Some of these children survive with little complications, some minor, some have a variety of issues that they outgrow or overcome. Then there are some who struggle, who have so much to overcome and still they choose wings over feet.

The families lean on one another for inspiration, information and understanding. Many times, the only people who truly know what you have been through are those who have been there themselves.

Quote for Monday...

"People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within."

~ Elizabeth Kubler-Ross ~

Quote about Life...

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.

Life is beauty, admire it.

Life is bliss, taste it.

Life is a dream, realize it.

Life is a challenge, meet it.

Life is a duty, complete it.

Life is a game, play it.

Life is a promise, fulfill it.

Life is sorrow, overcome it.

Life is a song, sing it.

Life is a struggle, accept it.

Life is a tragedy, confront it.

Life is an adventure, dare it.

Life is luck, make it.

Life is too precious, do not destroy it.

Life is life, fight for it.

~ Mother Teresa ~

Quote...

“The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.” - Henry Louis Mencken

You must give some time to your fellow men. Even if it's a little thing, do something for others -- something for which you get no pay but the privilege of doing it. --Albert Schweitzer

Quotes On Hope...

We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.

-Martin Luther King Jr

Many of the great achievements of the world were accomplished by tired and discouraged men who kept on working.

-Dale Carnegie

Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others,Or strikes out against injustice, they send forth a tiny ripple of hope … and crossing each other from a million different centres of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.

-Robert F Kennedy

Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence.

-Lin Yutang

We should not let our fears hold us back from pursuing our hopes.

-John F Kennedy

People once considered that religions were obsolete and that material science would solve all human problems. Now, they have become disillusioned with materialism and machinery and have realised that spiritual sciences are also indispensable for human life.

-Dalai Lama

"Hope is not blind optimism. Its not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. Its not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it, and to fight for it....Hope is the bedrock of this nation--the belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us. By all those men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is--who have the courageto remake the world as it should be. Together, ordinary people can do extraordinary things."

- Barack Obama

Hope -- Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. The audacity of hope! In the end, that is God’s greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation. A belief in things not seen. A belief that there are better days ahead.

- BARACK OBAMA, speech, 2004 DNC Convention

Amazing Quotes...

The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is. - Sir Winston Churchill

A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject. - Sir Winston Churchill

A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. - Sir Winston Churchill

How to Change the World?

Become the change you seek in the world.-- Mahatma Gandhi

Merry Christmas from Breath of Hope

What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace.--Agnes M. Pharo ("What Is Christmas")

Quote - Appropriate for Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Families

What oxygen is to the lungs, such is hope to the meaning of life. ~ Emil Brunner

What is Beyond Your Hopes?

If you do not hope, you will not find what is beyond your hopes.

St. Clement of Alexandra

How To Help - Listen...Help for the Caretaker

The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention... A loving silence often has far more power to heal and to connect than the most well-intentioned words. --Rachel Naomi Remen

______

Our families have told us people react to their situations of having a baby with congenital diaphragmatic hernia so differently. I often tell them that strangers become the best of friends and some family and friends become just strange. Sometimes people don't know what to say, how to help or say something unintentionally that isn't appropriate.

How can you help a family that is going through this - either just diagnosed in utero, in the NICU, who just became an angel or who is bringing home one of these special children?

(These are just a few - I am sure you all are creative and innovative enough to think of thousands of things to help.)

• Listen to them - really hear what they are saying and you might find out what they need, Sometimes it is just a hug, perhaps a meal prepared for their family or doing a chore for them that might allow them time.
• If they have other children, take the children to a playground, mall or something to do away from their family just to do something without the tension that is in their home. This is so valuable.
• Send them a card, e-card - just state you care and are thinking or praying for them.
• Help them send out birth announcements, run to the store for them and grocery shop or any other task that takes time or energy - offer to assist them!
• Don't say you understand - until you have walked in their shoes - no one truly understands. I personally like, "I don't understand but I will try and I am here if you need me."
• Remember their whole family is going through hell. There is no other word for it - when you are faced with these issues - it is hell on earth. We try to give HOPE and faith that they will survive this and thrive! They do - all say they will never be the same again and they learned more from these babies than a lifetime of learning!
• Support any and all decisions they make for the care of their unborn, newly born, their new angel or baby at home. They know better than anyone how to take care of their child and their instincts are vitally important - and 99% of the time are absolutely the best for their child and their family.
• Even one little thing to help - goes a LONG way - don't ever think it does not. Say a prayer or think of them - there is power in positive thinking and prayer.

Our Finest Moments Occur...

"The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers." - Unknown

Quote...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Courage - the Foundation of Integrity

With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity. --Keshavan Nair

Timely Quote....

Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that.

--Norman Vincent Peale