Zachary, born 2005

After five years and one miscarriage, I found out that I was FINALLY pregnant, with twins.  I was on cloud nine. The first ultrasound, the first heartbeat, they were absolutely amazing.  I could not believe that I was so lucky. All of my hopes and dreams were coming true but on April 1, 2005 my life changed forever.

I went to get a level two ultrasound.  I was informed that there was something wrong with one of the boy's hearts.  I was immediately taken in to have an echo done and was informed that Zach had Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome.  I immediately started to collect data. I was lucky enough to get connected with Dr. Peter Lang at Boston Children''s Hospital.  I went from thinking that Zach had no chance to being hopeful.

 

I had a lot of problems from this point on in my pregnancy.  I ended up on bed rest at home for three weeks and then in the hospital for another three when my cervix thinned to zero at 27 weeks.  I was told that if I did not make it to 34 weeks, they would not be able to perform Zach's surgery because he would be too small. 

On May 27, 2005 I had reached 30 weeks and I was once again having contractions and was checked by the doctor.  I had dilated to 8 cm and Zach's twin was standing on my cervix with his umbilical cord right beside his foot. I was taken for an emergency c-section.  What should have been one of the happiest days of my family's life was one of the scariest. Nobody thought that Zach had a chance but this would be the first time that he would prove us wrong and show us how strong he was.

He was born 3lbs 4oz.  I was only allowed to see him for a brief second and then he was whisked away from me and taken to BCH.  On June 3rd, he received the Norwood procedure. He spent 10 weeks in the hospital and then was home for three weeks before he took his first med flight in cardiac failure back to Children's.  He had the Norwood done a second time with a larger shunt placed. Since then he has arrested twice, taken a second med flight trip back to Children''s in respiratory distress and for the bi-directional Glenn.

He has beaten all odds to this point.  Of his 11 months of life, he has spent at least 9 1/2 months of that at BCH but it has all been worth it.  He has made it through more than most adults could have handled. We are still making lots of trips back to Children's due to complications that have come up.  But, we thank God for him every day.

Story by Zachary's mom, Krista - New Hampshire