Benjamin

Ben was born on February 21, 2008, five weeks early. He weighed in at 6lbs. 13 oz as a preemie. We learned of his heart condition after he was transported to Children's Hospital for breathing difficulties.

The heart condition was found during a routine ultrasound to view Ben's lungs. I was still at the birth hospital when I received a call that they had found a problem with his heart and they would go into detail once we came to the hospital. I was devastated and scared. Luckily I was packed and waiting for my husband to pick me up. They were letting me go early from recovering to go see Ben. We couldn't get to the hospital fast enough. He was not in any danger at that time but I really didn't know what was going on and I had never even held him at this point!

Ben was already 3 days old. I had only kissed his cheek and held his hand before they transported him to Children's Hospital. We met with different nurses and doctors and they asked us several questions and ran test for Down Syndrome even though they did not think he was a Downs baby. We were told that he would most likely need the surgery before he was six months old and explained all the signs to look for with heart failure.

Ben was released after his lungs matured and his jaundice had lessened a week later. We had a follow up appointment with the cardiologist three weeks later and he was surprised that Ben had gained weight and was very healthy. The plan of action was to do the surgery at six months of age after he gained more weight. We were told to come back in a month. At that next visit once again to the doctor's surprise, Ben was still very healthy and gaining a lot of weight. He was over 12 pounds! The surgery was moved up. His thoughts were, why wait? Ben was extremely healthy and at a weight that was good for surgery.

On May 21, 2008 Ben had his surgery. It was a long day of waiting with family. So much love for Ben and so many people praying for him. He recovered well and was home after 6 days! Everyone was and is amazing at Children's Hospital Central California. We are so thankful.

Ben will need another surgery in the future. He now has mitral valve regurgitation spanning from the surgery but we all hope and pray that it will be FAR off in the future! He continues to grow and eat and eat AND EAT still with no visible signs (except his scar!) of heart disease.