When Kelly was 20 weeks pregnant, she had a routine prenatal anatomy scan of her unborn baby, Andy. To her and her husband, Jesse’s, dismay, the scan revealed a rare congenital heart defect, hypoplastic right ventricle (HRV) with transposition of the great arteries (TGA), meaning Andy had one pumping heart chamber instead of two, and the two main arteries leaving his heart were switched. This rare condition could lead to low oxygen levels, heart failure, and abnormal heart rhythms.

While the diagnosis was serious and would require multiple surgeries and ongoing medical care, Andy's family quickly learned the expert congenital heart disease and fetal heart team at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital would become like family.

Throughout the remainder of her pregnancy, Kelly and Jesse met with Katelyn Snyder, MD, medical director of the Fetal Heart Program at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital, monthly to discuss Andy’s diagnosis, the treatment plan, and the development of his heart.

Just days after giving birth, Brian Boe, MD, medical director of Pediatric Cardiac Interventional Services at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, performed a Balloon Septostomy in the cath lab—an important procedure to help oxygen-rich and oxygen-poor blood mix more effectively by enlarging a small opening in the upper chambers of the heart.

After recovering, Frank Scholl, MD, chief of Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital Heart Institute, performed the Norwood procedure, the first in a series of open-heart surgeries for babies with single-ventricle physiology (HRV and TGA). During this complex procedure, parts of the heart and aorta are reconstructed to better manage blood flow.

The next day, Andy faced complications and needed Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO)—a specialized machine that temporarily does the work of the heart and lungs, allowing the body time to recover— for about 24 hours.

Over the next three weeks, Andy grew stronger, and his parents were finally able to take him home on his one-month birthday.

Since babies are at high risk between their first and second surgery, Andy had to be monitored closely. Two months after his first operation, an echocardiogram revealed that he had a narrowing of the aorta or coarctation of the aorta. He was readmitted to the cath lab so Dr. Boe could perform a procedure to widen his aorta with a small balloon in order to improve blood flow.

A few months later, Dr. Scholl performed Andy's second open-heart surgery, the Glenn procedure, another vital step in single-ventricle palliation to reduce the heart’s workload. Andy recovered far faster than after his first operation and was home within a week.