2018 is over, but life is only just beginning.

2018 will always be the year I truly found what life is about.

It’s a strange one this year, New Years Eve. For whilst it is the end of a calendar year, and the end of Clara’s first year on earth, it isn’t the end of Clara’s medical year.

On New Years Eve 2017 we thought Clara had finally fought the jaundice that had landed her in the High Dependency Unit for a few weeks. We knew that night, when she vomited bright yellow, at 11pm, that things wouldn’t be as we had hoped. We wouldn’t be bringing our new baby home in the new year.

Clara’s turbulent year truly began on January 2nd 2018, the day our world was torn – when we were told the words that our child may not survive. The 10th January we were advised to speak to palliative care as Clara’s lifespan was possibly, and very very likely, just days.

But look at us now. We are the luckiest family in 2018.

Clara, this world needed your smile, your spirit, and your love for life. It’s contagious.

You’ve made 2018 truly wonderful little lady, I needed you.

I promise you a world of love and adventure. We’ve simply started as we mean to go on.

Wherever you are in the world, thank you for following our journey. For reading Clara’s story, investing in her and us both emotionally and helping us raise thousands and thousands of pounds for the organisations who helped us this year.

We couldn’t have done it alone.

We wish you a very very Happy New Year, full of love, health, and laughter.