Meredith, born 2013

Meredith was born on a Thursday, and was immediately whisked away by the Code Pink team because of a pneumothorax and a heart murmur. The pneumothorax resolved itself, but the heart murmur led to us visiting a cardiologist the following Monday. There we were told that our tiny baby girl had Tetralogy of Fallot and was going to need open heart surgery. I was devastated. You know you can't protect your child from a broken heart, but you don't expect it to be so soon or so literal. Her surgery was supposed to happen at 3-6 months. But Meredith's blood oxygen level quickly plummeted to unacceptable levels. By the time she had her surgery at 11 weeks, it was in the 50% range. Her skin was constantly blue tinged, and it was all we could do to keep her from crying to prevent a Tet spell.

 

After the surgery, it was like looking at a different baby. The first thing I noticed in the hospital room was all of the tubes and wires. The second was how pink she was. The nurses dubbed her "Miss Sassy Pants," and she recovered relatively quickly.

 

Just over two months later, Meredith is a healthy, happy, active baby girl. She laughs, she rolls over, and she finally got those pesky toes that had been just out of her reach for a while. She smiles, she babbles, and she eats like the 1/4 Italian child she is. She will need another surgery in 5-20 years, but for now she's doing beautifully. We are so blessed to have our little miracle baby.

 

Story by Meredith’s mom, Stephane – Ohio