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Did you know? Baby Hearts Press
has a blog! Anna is writing about
changes with BHP, what’s
going on with Alex (who has HLHS) and
how The Heart of a Father is
progressing. For the lastest
news, click
here.
If you'd like more information on Anna's qualifications as an author and public
speaker, click
HERE
.
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Books available at BHP
Click on books for more information
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Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome: A Handbook for Parents.
BHP’s most popular book.
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My Brother Needs An Operation
BHP’s first children’s book. A book for the whole family.
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The Heart of a Mother
A book of essays by women around the world affected by congenital heart defects.
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Heart of a Father
Now In Production
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The Heart’s Gift by Jodi Davis
A memoir by a bereaved mother for sale by Baby Hearts Press.
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BHP’s Celtic Heart Pin
designed by Sue Dove
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BHP’s first lapel pin
designed by Anna Jaworski
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Baby Hearts Press Posters
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11 Things I Wish My Child’s Doctor Knew
8 1/2” x 11” Poster
by Anna Jaworski
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What It Means To Be The Parent of a Child with a Congenital Heart Defect
8 1/2” x 11” Poster
by Anna Jaworski
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A Short Story by Alex Jaworski
(at 6 years of age)
Links to Internet Sites You May Find Helpful
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Straight from Miami! The American Heart Association Heart Heroes Conference
2007 featuring Anna Jaworski as the keynote speaker is now
available as a DVD!
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Now you can hear Anna’s keynote address "Raising a Child with a Congenital
Heart Defect: The Balancing Act." Anna discusses the changes we go through as
families as our children grow up and what we need to be aware of so that we can
all have a quality life. In this presentation you will meet Anna's family and
some other members of the congenital heart defect community as Anna takes you
from birth to adulthood in raising a child with a CHD. Handouts to accompany
the speech
are available for download
here
.
Anna's second speech, "My Child's Bright Future" discusses the way our children
with CHDs in the year 2007 DO have a bright future. She
gives some tips for how to ensure our children have a bright future despite
their heart defects. Anna shares stories about how her son, Alex,
(born with HLHS) has overcome problems to achieve success and a happy life.
Anna's Ten Tips for Helping Your Child Have a Bright Future
(covering 3 different stages of development) is available
here
.
Click
here
to see how you can order a copy
of this DVD.
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It's back! Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome: A Handbook for Parents is
back and now available as an
eBook
only at BabyHearts Press. You can still
read some of the chapters
from the book, but if you would like to own your
own copy of the book, click
here
to order it.
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Are you a hospital or clinic treating children with HLHS? If so, you can write
to Baby Hearts Press for a site license of Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome: A
Handbook for Parents. Click
here
to email BabyHearts Press for a site license order form.
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The Heart of a Father Update:
We are hard at work trying to finish The Heart of a Father, but we are still
accepting essays for two chapters: Fathers Around the World and Catch 22. The
Fathers Around the World chapter includes essays from fathers outside the
United States. We already have essays from Australia, New Zealand, the United
Kingdom and Canada. We welcome essays from dads in other countries. We also
have some poems from a father in Spain, but they are in a different chapter of
the book.
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The Catch 22 chapter is very special. It is for essays that deal with dads in
a Catch 22 situation -- A situation in which a desired outcome or solution is
impossible to attain because of a set of inherently illogical rules or
conditions. Essays for this chapter could be written by a father who couldn't
get off from work to be at the hospital as much as he wanted to when his child
was hospitalized because he had to work to keep the insurance and have the
income needed for his child to get the medical care needed. Or it could be a
situation where a father has to stay home to work and/or care for other
children but his child and wife have to go far from home to another city, state
or even country.
These kinds of essays will be in this chapter.
If you are interested in writing for one of these chapters, please email Anna
at
ajaworski@aol.com
or Bob at
bdaigneault@rr.hot.com
. If interested in
contributing an essay for a different chapter, please click here to read more
about the project:
http://www.babyheartspress.com/heartofafather.html
Have you ever wondered what causes hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS)?
As the mother of a child with HLHS, I have wondered what causes this rare heart
defect. I
have done a lot of research, attended conferences and spoken to doctors about
HLHS. We have mused
together about potential causes and in the past most of the doctors I spoke
with seemed to feel that
it was not something simple. They seemed to feel that it was probably caused by
a combination of
genetic and environmental factors. For a while, there were some research
projects about HLHS
being caused by a virus. I never saw a finished report on those studies and a
cursory search on
Google did not reveal any such study.
What do we know for certain? Are parents to “blame” for their children’s heart
defects? Could
they have been avoided? What guarantee do we have that our children’s children
will not have the
same heart defect?
What do we know?
click
here
for the rest of the article by Anna Jaworski
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Don't forget that summertime can be more difficult on our heart children than
on our heart-healthy children. Always make sure your heart child stays well
hydrated. Dehydration can cause arrthythmias. Also be aware that any scar
benefits from being kept away from the sun for a full year. If you must take
your child out in the summer sun, make sure you use plenty of sunscreen.
Newborn skin is more easily sunburned anyway.
To read more about scar care visit this informative website by a dermatologist
at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin:
http://www.chw.org/display/PPF/DocID/35354/router.asp
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