Addison Grace Petracca

My Story By Addison Grace Petracca I was born on a Tuesday, September 15th, 2015. I was red faced and mad, but I liked it when I met my mommy and daddy. They cleaned me and bundled me up, and I took some pretty cute pictures peeking out below a hat with a bow on it. I got moved to a special room, where I would spend my next 2 months as doctors would come to meet me, and I would make lots of friends with the nurses and hospital staff. My mommy and daddy would come visit everyday, and spend all day and some of the night with me. They would hold me and sing to me. I liked to hold their finger and make sucking noises with my pacifier. I was pretty small then, and my mommy would put me in cute little jammies that had animals on my feet. After about 6 weeks, I got to go outside for the first time in their garden. It made me very sleepy though, and so I decided to nap while my mom and dad took pictures with me. In November I got to go home for the first time, just before my 2 month birthday. I decided I only wanted to sleep either being held or in my swing, so my mommy and daddy would spend long nights taking turns sitting up with me. I took a special picture with my daddy then. He is holding me in the middle of the night and he looks very tired. But I’m in his arms smiling up at him and I look so happy! It’s mommy’s favorite picture of the two of us. Thanksgiving came and Mommy made me a special onesie with a turkey on it. It’s a little silly looking, but I didn’t mind cause it made my mom happy to make it. In December I missed my hospital friends so much I wanted to go back and see them. After a couple visits they said my heart needed a few patches and we would need to stay awhile. So I had surgery, and I was so strong and tough all the doctors and nurses said I was a fighter! I knew I was though cause my mommy and daddy already told me how strong and stubborn I was. I got to go home at the end of January, and I took my first walk around the neighborhood with my parents. It was cold outside, and my mommy put a hat on me that I kept trying to pull off and it was sliding down on to my eyes. I also pooped and my mommy and daddy had to change me in the grass on the side of the road. I do not like a dirty diaper, and I have always let them know about this since I was teeny tiny. I kept missing my hospital friends, so we would go back and visit them. I also liked to sit in my boppy, and I decided I no longer liked my pacifier. My pink ball was my favorite toy, and I would take it everywhere with me. In March it was my 6 month birthday, and I had my first professional photo shoot in the hospital. I was very smiley that day, and I put up with my mommy changing me into lots of outfits and using photo props. In April I cut my first tooth, and one of the nurses got me to giggle for the first time. From then on I liked to smile or giggle at raspberry noises. I also liked to chew on everything, and I would cut a new tooth every 2-3 weeks for the next year. Sometimes it made me fussy, but mostly I just liked to chew on fingers and my keys and I would feel better. Around this time I started cooing a little bit. I had my first friend conversation with my toy Tigress. I would stare at her with furrowed eyebrows and then make noises at her when she roared at me. She was my buddy so I began to take her everywhere with me and my ball. I also started blowing kisses. It became my favorite thing to do and it was the way I said yes or I love you or I’m happy. In June I took a helicopter flight to a new hospital. While there I became very sick and had to be on some special machines for about a month. When I woke up I couldn’t move my left side of my body, which was frustrating cause it’s hard to play with my toys with only one hand. So we did lots of stretches and exercises to make me stronger and I began to build my muscles again. I got to go home in August, and I got to spend my longest time at home with my mommy and daddy. We would wake up and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, then I’d play on the floor with my mommy and my play mat or I’d sit in my high chair. I had a cube toy that made music and animal noises and I could play with that for hours banging and trying to fit the cube in my mouth. In the afternoons we would see some doctor friends, then we’d come home and go for family walks in the neighborhood. Daddy liked to take me on walks the most, but we would both get pretty hot so he got me a fan to keep me cool and that helped a lot. In September we celebrated my birthday and I got to have a birthday party with a smash cake and I wore a tutu. We also took our first family photos and I looked especially adorable in my birthday outfits. My mommy and me started taking baths together, cause I had gotten so big and grew out of my infant tub. Those were some of my mommy’s favorite times, cause after we had cleaned up we would splash for a little while, then she’d put me on her chest and we’d snuggle for a bit. I loved bath time, but I also thought it was funny to poop on the clean towel as she was drying me off. At the end of October we came back to the hospital again for visits. We did that often up through Christmas. By now I could almost sit up on my own, and I learned to shake my head no and nod my head yes. No was my favorite. When Daddy asked me a question I thought it was funny to say no to everything like- is daddy your favorite or can you say Dada? I also started working on waving hi and bye, but I enjoyed waving bye more often. In January we took another special plane ride to another hospital in Philadelphia. Here they did some more special tests on me and decided to try some new treatments. They were actually working well, and my mommy and daddy had a lot of hope. I was also super happy. I smiled all the time and blew kisses every time my parents would ask for a kiss or some sugar. I also loved talking on the phone. We would skype with my daddy when he was out of town and I would do lots of kisses and roar and eat the phone. I also loved taking pictures. I would smile when they said say cheese and then I’d blow a kiss. Things were going well and I was getting stronger, but then I caught a virus. It was a pretty bad one and it made me very sick very quickly. I fought it as best I could, but it made me tired and I was getting worse. My mommy and daddy were with me and knew how much I was fighting and they told me it was okay, I didn’t have to fight anymore. They knew I had done all I could, and didn’t want me to have to keep struggling. They told me about a place called Heaven, where God and Jesus would be waiting for me to play and take care of me till they could see me again. They told me how much they loved me and how proud they were of me and that it was all going to be okay. So on April 16th, 2017, Easter Sunday, I went to meet Jesus, and I know one day we’ll all be together again in Heaven. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Hooked For A Cure". www.hookedforacure.com