San Antonio – Brandon and Mishca Kizzee were shocked to find out their son Noah would be born with a congenital heart defect.
They were only six months pregnant but felt relieved to know early on what to expect.
Mishca said the way they caught it had nothing to do with the baby at first.
“So when she found out what it was, you know, it was alarming,” she said. “And we have a two-year-old, and she, you know, didn’t have any heart issues or anything like that. So, it was not something that we were prepared for. So it was definitely a surprise.”
“We feel very fortunate and lucky that it was caught pre-birth because we were able to get great care and get it taken care of, and we knew what to plan for, and we’re not surprised at birth,” Brandon said.
They were sent to visit UT Health San Antonio Pediatric Cardiologist and University Health Doctor Ginnie Abarbanell for a fetal echocardiogram.
“The most recent data we have is from 2015, which would suggest that here in Texas, the rate of prenatal diagnosis for congenital heart disease is 25%,” Abarbanell said. “This is definitely something that can get missed more in the rural areas or in the mothers who don’t get prenatal care. So it’s really important that mothers when they’re pregnant, they get that prenatal care so that they get those ultrasounds that they need to make sure that those babies are doing okay.”
She said it’s important the mothers ask specifically for the baby’s heart to be checked in those ultrasounds.
“Noah was born with something called transposition of the great arteries, which means that the two arteries that are leaving the heart were switched, and they’re coming off in the wrong locations,” Abarbanell said. “We were prepared to take care of him when he was born and make sure that we kept him safe and healthy so that he could go to heart surgery in the first week of life.”
He had open heart surgery 6 days after he was born. His parents say it was scary, but they were glad to know ahead of his birth to ensure he underwent the life-saving procedure.
Mishca has one piece of advice to expectant mothers.
“Just make sure that the ultrasounds are detailed,” she said. “You’re not just looking at ‘oh, he or she is this long or they might weigh this much.’ You want to look at all the organs and things like that and make sure things are like developing as well as possible.”