To the Parent Sitting in the Cardiac ICU Right Now
If you’re reading this from a chair that doesn’t quite recline in the Cardiac ICU, if the steady beeping of monitors has become your background noise, and if your phone battery is always low because you’re using it to update loved ones—
This is for you.
Parenting a child with a congenital heart disease (CHD) is not something anyone prepares for. Life in the Pediatric Cardiac ICU changes how you experience time, rest, and even joy. Days blur together. Nights feel endless. And sometimes simply getting through the next hour feels like an accomplishment.
If no one has said it today: you are doing enough. You are amazing.
Some days, being a heart parent doesn’t look strong or brave. It looks like sitting quietly beside a hospital bed. Crying in the bathroom between rounds. Eating whatever snack you can find. Watching your child sleep and wishing you could take their place.
That still counts.
The Cardiac ICU experience can be incredibly isolating. The outside world keeps moving while your world feels paused in one room, under fluorescent lights. Holidays pass differently. Friendships feel distant. And it can feel impossible to explain this season to anyone who hasn’t lived it.
We understand—because we’ve lived it too.
Born Brave Boutique was created by a CHD parent who knows the weight of these moments firsthand. It exists to bring comfort, connection, and support to families navigating life with a heart warrior.
In the hospital, small comforts can mean everything:
A soft shirt when nothing else feels gentle
A lavender eye mask when sleep won’t come
A sweet blanket that you can lay over your child because clothes are not an option.
These items aren’t just products. They are reminders that you are seen, that your journey matters, and that you are not alone in this season.
If today feels heavy, you don’t need to be strong for anyone else. Just breathe. Just stay. Just love your child the way only you can.
And when you’re ready—whether that’s today or months from now—there is a place where CHD mamas that speak this language come together.
Linked By Love![]()
Linked by Love is our free support community created for CHD parents, caregivers, and heart families. It’s a space for shared understanding, real conversations, and connection beyond the hospital walls.
Whether you’re currently inpatient, newly diagnosed, or years into this journey—you are welcome here.
👉 Join the Linked by Love community and connect with others who truly understand.
For Parents, Caregivers, and Supporters Walking Beside a Heart Family
If you’re reading this and you’re not a CHD parent yourself—but a caregiver, family member, friend, or supporter—please know this:
Every purchase at Born Brave Boutique directly helps make this support possible.
Your support helps fund Linked by Love, our private, free community created for CHD mamas who need a safe space to connect, share, and feel understood. It also helps us donate comfort and care items to families currently living in the Pediatric Cardiac ICU—families who are sitting in the very rooms this post was written for.
Because of you:
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The support group stays accessible and private
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Care items reach heart families during their hardest days
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No one has to navigate this journey feeling completely alone
Whether you’re shopping, sharing, or simply reading—you are part of this circle of care.