My name is Maya, I was born on March 27, 2007 at 3:54pm at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mt. Kisco NY. I was a 34 weeker—weighed 4lbs, 1 ounce and was 17 inches long.

Mommy and Daddy's names are Anka and Matthew. We live in Brewster, NY in a cute little ranch with our dog Bear.

I was diagnosed with congenital heart disease, please read my story... Here I go...

When I was born I was a bit premature (6 weeks early) and in breech position (butt first)so mommy had to have a c-section to deliver me. I was born with Apgars 4-7-9. Apparently I inhaled some fluid on my way out, I was placed on CPAP for about 4 hours, and when they attempted to wean me off I did well. That next day the NICU docs, upon assessing me, heard a suspicious murmur. Most preemies are born with a murmur so mommy and daddy weren't worried. I was to stay in the NICU until I started eating well. I was being tube fed at the time with mommies breast milk. I did latch on to the breast the first day of life, so things were looking promising. On Thursday March 29th, 2007 Dr. Crowe (my cardiologist) came to do my echocardiogram and the news wasn't good!

I was diagnosed with Coarctation of the Aorta and a Complete Atrio-Ventricular Canal Defect, with a small left ventricle—single ventricle. The news was very hard for mommy and daddy to swallow. Especially the fact that I was being transferred to Columbia Presbyterian that same night. I was transferred at 1am that morning and settling into my new isolette at Columbia by 3am. Mommy was discharged early so that she and daddy could be with me in the hospital. It was a rough course. That following Tuesday April 3rd—I was operated on, open heart surgery to correct my aorta and to place a pulmonary band to protect my heart from going into failure. You see, I was under 4 lbs at the time and they could not do a complete repair. I was too little. So, I am still waiting for a second surgery. The docs want me to be at least 5 kg before fixing my heart completely.

I was transferred back to NWH after a 2 week stay at Columbia to feed and grow. I finally came home on April 30th weighing under 5 lbs. Mommy and Daddy were so happy to have me home finally. It was nice to finally be home sleeping in my own crib.

While awaiting my next OHS, the docs are in the works of deciding what will be best for my heart function. They may decide to go with the single ventricle route (due to the small size of my left ventricle) and do a Glenn next, scheduled for Nov. 26th, 2007... followed by a Fontan in the next few years. We will have to wait and see what the consensus is.

Until then....

:) Maya