24.07.2021 – 07:45
During Anna’s birthday, small signs indicated that something was wrong with her. She was no longer eating as usual. The skin color looked pale. Her mom suspected jaundice and kept Anna in the sun when she could.
In the evening, Anna was unable to grasp the breast to feed. Her breathing seemed strange. Then he cried incessantly.
“It was like a scream I had never heard before,” said Anna’s mother, Stefania. If she was louder, she might be able to scream. It was a cry for help and agony. “
Kristi, Anna’s father, called a friend who is a doctor. He asked if the baby was suffering from a fever. In fact, her body looked cold.
“She is cold,” said the doctor. “You have to take him to the hospital now.”
When they went to the hospital, a nurse rushed him into a testing room, followed by the pediatrician.
Anna’s skin had turned gray. The doctor came right away and started trying to figure out what was going on.
Stefania was so terrified she could barely see him.
At 4 a.m., the cardiologist said some things were not going well with Anna’s heart. He added: “This is all adjustable.”
Heart defects are the most common type of birth defect, affecting many babies each year. Of these, about 1 in 4 are considered critical enough to require surgery or other procedures during the first year of life.
Ana had an aortic coarctation, a narrowing that reduced blood flow to the body. She also had numerous holes in her heart.
Doctors operated on the girl for 10 hours. She spent three weeks in the hospital.
“I could not keep him for 16 days,” said Stefania.
She and Kristi tried to maintain a normal life for their older daughters.
“I cried for the 25 minutes I needed to go to the hospital, to collect myself, then go to meet Stefanian and Anna,” Chris said. “Then I cried again for the 25 minutes needed to get home, to gather myself and just try to be.” Father “to the other girls.”
Today, Anna is a physically weak 5-year-old who will start kindergarten in September. It has no restrictions and does not require any medication. While there are some ongoing concerns, they are small enough to require cardiology checkups only once a year.
Kristi, who shared Anna’s story with us, said they feel like the luckiest people in the world.
“It was a miracle after all that horror, that allowed Anna to be here today,” Stefania said.
“To say that I am grateful and have experienced a miracle is an understatement.”