Patti Murin's baby daughter, Cecily, dressed as Captain Marvel for Halloween because, at almost 4 months old, she's already accomplished so much.
The Broadway actor, 40, who starred as Princess Anna in "Frozen," revealed on Instagram over the weekend that Cecily underwent open heart surgery at 10 weeks old. Murin explained in the caption of her post, which included shots of Cecily in her Halloween costume and after surgery, that her daughter was born with "a rather large hole."
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"A lot of babies are born with this condition, but the majority of them close up on their own," Murin wrote. "We found out about this when I was 22 weeks pregnant, so we’d known for a while that this was inevitable."
But knowing in advance that Cecily would need surgery didn't necessarily make it easier for the new parents. Cecily's father and Murin's husband is actor Colin Donnell, 38.
"No matter how much you prepare mentally, watching your impossibly tiny new daughter go through an incredibly serious and invasive surgery is gut wrenching at best," Murin continued. "And helping her recover day by day, breath by breath, has been humbling and inspiring. Our daughter isn’t even 4 months old, and she’s already more badass than I’ll ever be."
The Broadway star went on to give a shoutout to Cecily's medical team at Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital in New York City.
"Her surgeon, anesthesiologists, cardiology team, nurses, nurse practitioners, support staff, security guards, physician’s assistants, I could go on and on about every person who helped us along that terrifying path," Murin said. "I have never felt so supported and taken care of, and I was able to sleep at night knowing that she was in the very best hands there are. There is no way to adequately thank the people who have quite literally saved your child’s life, but we won’t stop trying."
The actor concluded by sharing that Cecily's recovery is going "so, so well."
"She’s the most heroic person I know, and I can’t wait to tell her stories about how brave she was when she was just a teeny bean," Murin wrote. "'Life is not the things that we do, it’s who we’re doing them with.'"
Donnell also shared the post to his own Instagram page, adding, "A little bit about our little Superhero Cecily and a big thank you to all the #healthcare #heroes."
Back in April, when Murin was pregnant with Cecily, she revealed that she believed she'd contracted COVID-19.
“Laughing makes me cough, which sucks, but smiling makes me happy, and my friends and family are helping me do just that and staying in contact as much as they can," she wrote on Instagram at the time. "Colin is taking excellent care of me. His TV doctor experience combined with his huge heart and love for me make for the best partner I could ask for, for this moment and for forever."