Charlotte Blake’s Journey After Heart Transplant

09/07/2026

Hi everyone! ❤️

So many things happen behind the scenes with Charlotte, from doctor appointments and therapies to all of the time, travel, and expenses that come along with making sure she has every opportunity to grow and thrive.

We are so excited to hopefully attend a weeklong DMI (Dynamic Movement Intervention) session in early November! DMI is a specialized therapy that has had great success for many children. We are hopeful that this could be one more piece of the puzzle in helping Charlotte work toward something we dream about every day: walking and becoming more independent.

The therapy clinic is located in central Mississippi, which means Courtney and Charlotte will need to rent a place to stay for the week, along with covering the costs of gas, food, and other travel expenses.

To help make this trip a little easier, I designed a couple of new shirts, along with bringing back some of the shirts we have offered in the past! 👕✨

100% of the funds raised through these T-shirt sales will go directly toward helping Courtney and Charlotte with the expenses of this trip.

We are so grateful for everyone who has supported Charlotte along the way. Every shirt purchased, share, and donation helps more than you know! Thank you for continuing to cheer our girl on as she works toward those big milestones. 🩷

https://www.bonfire.com/store/charlottes-fundraisers-for-dmi/?utm_source=copy_link&utm_medium=store_page_share&utm_campaign=charlottes-fundraisers-for-dmi&utm_content=default

Grab your limited edition HW Tshirt merchandise before the campaign closes. Featuring Watermelon Comfort Colors Unisex Tees, professionally printed in the USA.

08/25/2026

The procedure went well with no complications! 🥳❤️

Today also marks 3 years since Charlotte received her heart transplant. It’s crazy to think back on everything that has happened over the past three years, and we are still so incredibly thankful for this gift of life.

We think of Charlotte’s donor family often, especially on this day. We can only imagine how difficult this anniversary must be for them, and we will forever be grateful for the selfless decision they made that gave Charlotte the gift of a second chance at life. We hope that one day we will have the opportunity to connect with them. 🦋

As far as the preliminary report goes… it’s not necessarily our favorite report, but there is still so much to praise God for.

Charlotte does have a coronary fistula that will likely require repair at some point. Thankfully, her team does not feel it needs to be repaired right now, and they are hopeful that she won’t need intervention for a few years. They will continue to monitor it closely during her yearly caths.

As far as rejection, Charlotte has some signs of very mild rejection (1R). We will receive the full report soon, but there is nothing that needs to be changed or treated at this time. For now, it is simply a wait-and-watch situation to make sure the level of rejection does not progress.

Her team is pleased with her overall results and has no immediate concerns, which is something we are very thankful for.

Three years of answered prayers, unexpected challenges, incredible strength, and so much love thank you to her transplanted heart. We are beyond grateful for every single day we get with her. 🌈🦋❤️

08/23/2026

Charlotte will go in tomorrow for her yearly heart cath and biopsy to check for any signs of rejection and see how healthy her transplant heart is. ❤️

It is always so hard to hand her over for procedures, but we know these yearly checks are so important in making sure her heart continues to stay healthy.

Please pray for an uncomplicated procedure, a smooth recovery, and a good report with no signs of rejection!

We are so incredibly thankful for every prayer that has been prayed for our girl throughout every part of this journey. Your prayers mean more to us than you know. ❤️

We will update tomorrow after her procedure! ⭐️🌈🦋🌸

07/29/2026

We had the best zoo day on Monday! We are soaking up every ounce of summer that we have left before big sister heads off to 1st grade next week! ☀️🐒🦁🐘

07/22/2026

First hair cut and a pool day what could be better! 💈🎀🏊‍♀️🩷

07/16/2026

Enjoying summer days living our best life!

*Do not own the rights to the music*

07/04/2026

Happy 250th birthday America from the Nichols girls! We hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July! 🇺🇸🤍❤️🩵

Quick update on Charlotte: She did great with her procedure. She stayed overnight, but got to come home yesterday! Just giving her all the lovings and cuddles while she recovers. Hopefully her pain is much better so soon! Thank you for all the prayers!

06/30/2026

First off, we are loving summertime and having sissy home all the time!

Next medical updates, Charlotte will be getting her tonsils and adenoids out on Thursday as well as a new set of ear tubes! Procedures are always intimidating but hopefully this helps with her sleep apnea and restlessness during the night!
So please pray this is a quick and easy process for her and is a solution to some of her speech problems!

Charlotte has officially been diagnosed with hypotonic cerebral palsy. We were closely monitoring her development to see if this was a possibility but now have the official diagnosis. Although this wasn’t easy to hear or process, this does help explain why things are so much harder for Charlotte to master and why we do progress so much more slowly than the average developmental delay patient. We do not know the severity of her cerebral palsy but will hopefully get that in the coming months. Cerebral palsy is unfortunately more common in severe prolonged heart complications and unfortunately Charlotte has experienced her fair share! This diagnosis does not change anything we are doing or have been doing but does offer some answers and hopefully more resources! We will always make sure Charlotte is given all the tools to be successful and her spunky self! Prayers that Charlotte continues to develop slowly but steadily as she has been! She’s the most determined little girl and we love seeing all that she has accomplished so far!

To end on a positive note, she has progressed so much just in the past few weeks! She truly gets stronger each day and we love to see it!

I will update again Thursday after her procedures! 🤍

06/06/2026

Didn’t mean to go almost two months between updates! So sorry! We’ve been busy with weddings, birthday parties, kicking off summer break, and everything in between! Charlotte is growing and getting more personality by the day! We are still continuing all the therapies and all the things to make this girl thrive! I promise to do more posts this month! 🤍🌸

04/14/2026

Charlotte turned •3• on Saturday! We truly are beyond blessed that we have made it to three years old!

3 years ago Charlotte had her first of what turned into many cardiac procedures. She has defied more odds than we can even fathom. We are so thankful for the donor family who has made her life possible! We look forward to everything she will accomplish this year!!

We had the BEST turn out on Saturday for her benefit car show/cruise in and we are beyond thankful for everyone who came out and supported such a little miracle! So many amazing sponsors donated items for raffles, A&M smokehouse served up the best food, nine fingers emcee kept the music going and everyone informed, and all the people who helped set up and break down! We are truly so blessed!

Our sponsors:

Sponsor list
Huey’s
Slim Chickens
Dominos
Bumper to Bumper of Greenville, MS
LSXceleration
Deatschwerks
Bazaars
Sharp Neon Designs and More
Floeids
Britton Automotive of Greenville, MS
Old Towne Bakery
Power Nutrition
Dane Hamrick
Driven Oil
Edelbrock Group
Chow Time
Nine Fingers Wrenching
A&M Smokehouse