GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A West Michigan family is thankful that their daughter is doing better after she was born with a heart defect.
In January of 2023, Eliana Koch, or Ellie, was born with undiagnosed heart defect called transposition of the great arteries without a septal defect.
It's when the tubes that direct the blood that needs oxygen from the lungs and the blood that has oxygen from the lungs are flipped, meaning her body was not getting the blood it needed.
Doctors had to act fast to save her life.
“Thank God, we have the world's best neonatologists that picked up right away that something was wrong, called cardiology, we ran up with an ultrasound machine, found the problem, sent an emergency team to do a very complicated procedure at her bedside, because we didn't even have time to go to a lab," said Dr. Sarah Badran, a Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital cardiologist and also Ellie’s cardiologist. "And she was getting CPR as we were trying to do something in her heart to get some of the red blood was actually to get even to her body.”
Ellie suffered a lot of complications after her birth, including a stroke two days after she was born.
Two weeks later, she received heart surgery.
But since those rocky first weeks, Ellie has made tremendous strides and is hitting milestones every day.
"Actually, her name Eliana means 'my God has answered.' And so we have seen that time and time again with her and all that God has done in her life," said Ellie’s mom Sarah. "I think that's an amazing part of this journey is that every step of the way, she does something new and it's amazing. So she just continually amazes us."
Ellie’s mom said she thanks staff at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital for not only helping Ellie through her medical journey, but for also becoming family.
Nurse navigator for the Congenital Heart Center, Keara Ruel, said stories like these can help families be aware of defects like this one, and look out for the warning signs.
“Raising awareness for this very actually common congenital heart defect, it is important to know in utero when this happens. So, it gives parents time to adjust and prepare for their life with a child with a congenital heart defect. And so, they can get the right care,” said Ruel.
“If you know about it before birth, then you're born in a special place that has these resources. And you know, the baby can be born and immediately have the procedure before they have the opportunity to get sick enough to need any emergency care,” said Dr. Badran.
Which is why Ellie’s family and her doctors hope to inspire other expecting families to look out for something like this before the baby is born.
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