Hope Lines

Were in the delivery room when Darcy was born. That was an unbelievable moment to be there from the very beginning of our daughter's life. It's not an honor that a lot of adoptive families get to be a part of. At Darcy's two-month pediatrician visit, her doctor said she looked a little jaundiced. So her doctor said, you need to go see a liver doctor at New York Presbyterian tomorrow. I will never forget when we first learned about Darcy's liver condition. Pfic2 is a liver condition in which the bile that is created in the liver cannot be expelled from the liver. Are you a baby cow? A baby cow. Darcy was about a year and a half. That's when it became clear that transplant was going to be something that we would be a part of. We immediately said we're both going to be tested. We want to do everything that we can for our daughter. We both had initial blood tests done. And then amazingly, were both potential matches. We decided that I would be the one to move forward to be Darcy's living donor. The day of the surgery, we had to get there very early and the surgeries were starting at different times. And so we had to say our goodbyes or Hey, remember thinking in that moment how lucky we are to be surrounded by a team of people who are supportive and knowledgeable. I don't remember much of the first day after I woke up, to be honest. But seeing her in that bed, knowing that we would both be okay, was an incredible moment. Were ready for those patterns and the laughter of childhood and the running around and the taking life for granted sometimes, which were never able to do before. After she came home from the hospital and after the transplant and we saw how she was thriving and just bounced back so quickly and was so full of life, we knew that we didn't have to wait for her to, quote unquote, get better to take the next step in our life as a family. I was home after about five days, which seems remarkable looking back. In about three months after transplant, my liver was back to almost 100%, fully functioning from right after the transplant. That's magic and science together. I mean, that is just incredible. Whenever I'm giving her a bath or something And I love the fact that her scar is in the shape of a piece symbol. Her transplants gave our family so much peace. We are an adoptive family and yet now we are biologically connected in a way that I never thought was possible.