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Sunday, Feb. 07, 2010

The miraculous beating of a child’s heart

JONES COUNTY — Sometimes, when the night gets too quiet, Samantha Hunt will get up to check on her baby daughter.

She does not take for granted every heartbeat will be there and on time.

Two weeks ago, Ruby celebrated her first birthday. She already has had more heart surgeries than birthday parties. She will be facing yet another operation when she weighs 30 pounds, and she’s practically halfway there.

Samantha compares her daughter’s life to the ticking of a clock. Every breath is measured. Every smile is treasured.

She presses a stethoscope against Ruby’s tiny chest to make sure her heart rate is the right speed to get her through another few hours.

“From that miraculous moment she was born, she has already beaten so many odds,” Samantha said. “She has been at death’s door two or three times. When you’re told your child may not live to be old and gray, you learn to appreciate every day.”

In tonight’s Super Bowl, one of the most controversial and anticipated commercials in the game’s history will be aired by CBS.

It tells the story of Pam Tebow, who was pregnant while on a mission trip to the Philippines in 1987.

After she contracted amoebic dysentery, doctors advised her to abort the fetus because of concerns about her own health risks.

Instead, Pam gave birth to a baby boy on Aug. 14, 1987. His name is Tim Tebow, and he became a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback for the University of Florida and one of college football’s greatest ambassadors.

Samantha and her husband, Jason, have a son, Samson, who will be 3 years old in April. In June 2008, while pregnant with the couple’s second child, Samantha went for her ultrasound at the 20-week mark to determine the sex of the baby.

She was told she was having a girl. She also learned the unborn child had been diagnosed with a rare congenital heart defect known as hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a condition where the left portion of the heart is severely underdeveloped.

Doctors presented Samantha with several options, including have a medical abortion or participating in an infant “comfort care” program, similar to end-of-life hospice.

“We never even considered it,” Samantha said. “We didn’t believe it was right. God gave us this child, and it’s our stewardship to take care of her as long as we have her.”

In the fall of 2008, Samantha entered a “Custom Nursery Design Contest” sponsored by Similac baby formula. Ty Pennington, the popular host of ABC-TV’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” was serving as national spokesman for the contest.

She wrote an essay and waited to hear back. At the time, she was working for owner Joyce Park at Bodega Interiors in Macon.

“Every time the phone rang, we would joke it was Ty calling,” said Samantha.

Ty never called, but Jason did. On the first Saturday in December, she was helping with a yard sale at her grandparents’ house to raise money for her upcoming medical expenses.

Jason called to tell her Federal Express had delivered a notification. She had been named one of four national winners in the contest, and the family would be awarded $10,000 for Ruby’s nursery.

“I almost went into labor right then,” she said, laughing.

She selected her boss, Joyce, to design the nursery with a sterile space for the medical equipment.

Samantha said even though it was difficult to carry her child knowing the tough challenges she faced at birth, she and her family were thankful to have been prepared.

Doctors induced labor at 37 weeks because Ruby had stopped growing. She weighed 4 pounds when she was born in Macon on Jan. 21, 2009. Within three hours, she was airlifted to Egleston Children’s Hospital in Atlanta.

“From her very first breath, she was on her way to heart failure,” Samantha said.

On her second day of life, Ruby had surgery.

On Feb. 7 — one year ago today — she came home for the first time.

Her parents were terrified to take her away from the security of the hospital, the constant attention and monitoring.

Ruby would see the inside of a hospital plenty more times, though. She had two heart caths, an angioplasty and a stint before her second surgery at 5 months old. To extend her life expectancy, she will at some point be a candidate for a heart transplant.

I visited baby Ruby last week. She is taking her first steps. She can say “mama” and “goodbye.”

She has four teeth, light brown hair and hazel eyes. She loves to nibble on Cheerios and explore the world around her. She untied my shoestrings several times.

Samantha wrote a journal entry for www.littlehearts.org, where she shared experiences with other families facing similar situations.

“We try not to dwell on what discomforts she might face down the road because of her special heart,” she wrote. “Instead, we thank God for every wonderful day that we are enjoying with her. She is without a doubt living a wholehearted life!”

Samantha has created handmade jewelry she sells at both Bodega and Kema’s Hobby, and Books and More in Gray. Each piece of jewelry features a tiny heart.

Joyce said proceeds from the sale of Samantha’s jewelry at Bodega, as well as proceeds from the sale of Valentine’s gifts, are part of a fundraiser for the Hunt family during the month of February. Students taking art classes at Bodega are donating original paintings for a silent auction.

I wanted to share this story with you, not just because of the Super Bowl, Tim Tebow and his mother’s decision to bring him into the world.

Today, the one-year anniversary of the day Ruby came home, also marks the first day of National Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week.

It runs, appropriately enough, through Valentine’s Day, a day for hearts both big and small.