The Beginning

I was born on March 28, 2000 at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio. When I was delivered at 3:06 AM, I appeared so blue that the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) was called in, and I was whisked away. My mother never got to hold me or even see me. All she knew was that a nurse was saying, “You have a red head!” when I was crowning. My mom got a strange glance from my dad, because no one else in the family has red hair! Little did my dad know that my Great Grandma MacDonald had fiery red hair and a ton of freckles!

My mom had to wait until about 5:30 AM to find out what was going on with me. She met with Dr. Terrence Dillon, a pediatric cardiologist in Dayton, Ohio, and who is affiliated with Miami Valley Hospital. He took my parents down to the NICU to see me for the first time. I was lying in an incubator with several tubes going in and out of me. They kept me asleep with medication in the hours after my delivery. Dr. Dillon drew a picture showing my parents how I had a rare congenital heart condition called Ebstein’s Anomaly. The disease is very rare and it occurs less than 1% of all heart disease. In brief, this means that my heart was deformed: My tricuspid valve was long and protruding, which caused regurgitation or back flow of blood into my heart. I was taken by ambulance to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC). Dr. Evangeline Andarsio, my mom’s obstetrician-gynecologist, allowed my mom to leave early to come see me at Cincinnati Children’s, but she had to spend one night at Miami Valley Hospital. My dad traveled to Cincinnati to stay with me.

I stayed at CCHMC for about 3 ½ weeks. The doctors thought that I would probably not leave the hospital without some kind of surgery. I was on special medicine to prevent my ductus (a blood vessel that connects the aorta and pulmonary arteries in babies) from closing. Back then, it was really hard to operate on such a tiny heart and my chances were not very good. They kept me asleep hoping that the newborn pressures in the lungs and heart would calm down. My parents brought my big sister to meet me for the very first time in case something happened to me. My mamaw and papaw wanted to visit me, but due to restrictions from the flu and RSV, they weren’t able to see me.

My parents did their best to stay positive, but everything the doctors told them seemed discouraging. My mom remained strong and was the backbone of everything, though she struggled with her own feelings of depression. The doctors initially thought I was in a hopeless situation and advised my parents to start making funeral arrangements.

And then one day my parents went to the hospital to see me and I was gone! You could imagine what was running through their heads! They had removed me from the NICU and moved to me to a regular hospital room. As they were walking to my room, they could hear a baby crying. It was I, fully awake and very cranky. As soon as my mom took me into her arms for the first time, I immediately stopped crying. It was as if I knew right away that she was my mom. It was the first time that they had seen me awake and moving. To them, I seemed like a normal, healthy baby. The doctors told my parents that they didn’t know what happened, but now I did not need surgery. This was a miracle in their eyes and the eyes of my parents. They put me on Amrinone, a heart rhythm medicine, and Lasix, which prevents fluid around the heart and the lungs. I also had to wear a harness that would record any irregular heart rhythms. I was on these medicines and had to wear the harness for about 6 months. Other than being colicky, I grew and thrived.

After some time, my parents were allowed to take me home. Everyone hoped the worst was behind us. But fate had other plans.