When expecting couple Caitlin and Brian Veitz went to their routine 20-week checkup, they couldn’t wait to see their little baby on the screen and hear her heart beat. However, when doctors looked at the screen, they realized their little girl’s heart was growing outside of her tiny body.
“We kind of thought it was over before we could even begin,”27-year-old Caitlin Veitz remembers. “We were certain something like this would be fatal quickly, even if it hadn’t proven to be just yet.” Since the scary condition, which occurs in just 1 out of every 100,000 births, is so rare, doctors knew the girl’s chance of survival was slim but sent the couple to experts at the Maternal Fetal Medicine Clinic in Fargo to give her the best chance possible.
Experts believed that if the baby could survive the pregnancy, birth, and finally a surgery to put her heart in her chest, she would have a good chance at surviving. “I felt very confident at that point,” remembered Veitz. “It was really my ‘coming to’ moment with everything… I wanted to go forward and help her as long as she wanted to fight.”
“We wanted to give this kid a shot, and we had a chance of giving the family and the child a realistic hope,” said Dr. Joseph Dearani from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. With 3-D imaging, Dearani and a large team of doctors studied baby Kieran’s case and knew exactly what had to be done during surgery. So when Veitz went in for her c-section at 36-weeks, the team of over 60 doctors and nurses were able to deliver baby Kieran and safely put her heart in her chest in five hours.
“I was optimistic and confident, but I was anxious,” said Dearani. “I’m very lucky to be surrounded by hall-of-fame practitioners, to my left and right.” Kieran was placed in the cardiac intensive care unit, but no one knew if she’d survive the night. “We started out saying we would be here for her as long she felt like fighting. Then she made it to birth, one day, two days, three days, a week, a month, six months, a year and now 20 months old, about to turn 2,” Veitz said.
After three months in the ICU, Kieran was finally allowed to go home, and she’s gotten stronger every day since. Today, Kieran is 20 months old, and even though she still needs another surgery for a congenital heart anomaly, doctors are confident she will be fine. “It’s very surreal,” said Veitz. “She’s essentially re-writing what most know about the condition. She’s going to grow up. She’s going to do everything anyone else gets to do.”
Can you believe how far this little girl has come since doctors discovered her heart was growing outside of her body? Let us know what you think in the comments below, and please SHARE this with friends on Facebook.
[Featured image: Today]
Baby Survives Being Born With Her Heart Outside Of Her Body is an article from: LifeDaily