SHEBOYGAN — Having a baby is a beautiful and happy time for most mothers, but for Gabrielle Becerra, her pregnancy and delivery has been filled with stress and concern after doctors told her that her daughter has a rare heart defect.
"This will be some of her clothes when she's able to wear it," Becerra says, showing off some of what she's gathered for her newborn.
It's been a long journey in a short amount of time but little Arianna is the definition of a fighter.
"She's doing a lot better than everyone expected," said Becerra.
When Arianna's mother, Gabrielle, found out she was pregnant, everything was normal at first.
"Everything was going great," said Becerra.
Until she received unexpected news at 23 weeks, when she was told her daughter would be born with a rare heart condition called hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS).
"My 23-week scan is when they found her heart problem and they were concerned," Becerra recalls.
"[With] hypoplastic left heart syndrome, aspects of the left side of the heart are so small that they are inadequate to provide enough blood flow to the body and so, in those circumstances, we have to treat the heart as if there's just one functioning ventricle or pumping chamber," said Dr. Kasey Chaszczewski, a pediatric cardiologist at Children's Wisconsin.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1,025 babies are born in the United Statees with HLHS each year.
"It's one of the most complex forms of congenital heart disease that we see," said Dr. Chaszczewski.
On April 1st more than a month before her due date, Becerra had an emergency C-section. Weighing just 3 pounds, little Arianna was born at Children's Wisconsin.
"It was really scary. We didn't know what was gonna happen," said Becerra.
Dr. Chaszczewski said Arianna needed surgery just days after being born.
"One of the initial goals of our care was to allow her time to grow and get bigger and become older. She had initial surgery to limit the amount of extra blood flow that goes to her lungs. We anticipate the next step for her will be to have one of our interventional catheterization doctors to put a stent in one of the structures to get enough blood flow to her body to allow her time to grow and develop," said Dr. Chaszczewski.
Dr. Chaszczewski said, like most children born with HLHS, Arianna's treatment plan will be a long one but because Arianna's heart condition was determined prenatally, her team was able to come up with a plan for the best possible treatment.
"One of the benefits of identifying patients prenatally is that we can develop a plan before the baby arrives as to where the best, safest location for them to deliver us so they can have immediate access to postnatal cardiology care. The other benefit is that you also meet the team that is going to care for your child. Our goal is that each child lives a healthy, complete and full life," said Dr. Chaszczewski.
Despite having a long scar across her tiny chest and tubes hooked up to her little body, Arianna continues to smile as she is slowly making progress.
"She's definitely fighting through it all," said Becerra.
Although there are still many unknowns-- Becerra said she is thankful little Arianna is in good hands.
"We are really scared. We didn't know what was gonna happen with all of this, but the doctors and the nurses have been super supportive. You just have to trust the doctors because they know what they're doing, they are there for a reason and she's getting the best care that she possibly could," said Becerra.
To learn more about Children's Wisconsin and the Herma Heart Institute, click here.
To view a GoFundMe for Arianna or to learn more about her heart jouney, click here.
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