Saving Little Hearts

Little family heart story submitted by heart mom Ashlie Little.

We found out at 20 weeks that our son was going to be born with half a heart, Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. We were able to prepare before he was born and he was born on February 22, 2005. He was rushed over to Primary Children's Medical Center and had his first surgery when he was 3 days old.

He was so small they had to keep his chest open because of the swelling in his chest. He recovered amazingly. He was sent home at 2 1/2 weeks old. We went back to the hospital because there was blood in his stool. He had necrotizing entorcolitis, we then had to stay at the hospital for another 2 weeks. Luckily no surgery was needed. He had his 2nd surgery when he was 3 months old he was out of the hospital in 5 days what a miracle to be in and out of the hospital with heart surgery in 5 days. We then had to go back for a post surgery check up and like with his first surgery he had another side effect from his 2nd surgery, Chilothorax. We were hospitalized for 2 1/2 weeks and that involved a lung surgery. We were home free for about 6 months when we took him to the ER because of swelling in his face. He was in heart failure. His echo showed that his heart was not pumping properly, only his right atrium was working. To a normal person this is only 1/4 of a heart. He was put on the Heart Transplant list and we waited. While waiting in the ICU he caught RSV. This took him off the transplant list and we were told we had to wait till it was clear, it takes 6 weeks for RSV to clear in a healthy baby. We were devastated, our amazing little boy fought it off in 2 weeks and was able to be re-listed. We waited a total of 5 weeks and one day for his heart to arrive and he is doing fantastic. He is our little miracle and like it said in a book I read in the hospital; someone asked a mother if she would do it again, she responded, In a Heart Beat!!