Mitch
Mitch Michael Roling was born on February 16, 2005 along with his twin sister, Megan Sue. I had a wonderful pregnancy with the twins. There was no pre-term labor so I worked until the day before my scheduled c-section at 37 weeks and 5 days.
Two days after Mitch was born, we were given the news that he has a heart condition called tricuspid atresia which meant that Mitch's right ventrical had not formed. This condition is normally found during routine ultrasounds but since this was a twin pregnancy, Mitch's heart could not be seen on the ultrasound.
Mitch was in stable condition so when our twins were 5 days old, my husband, my mom and I headed to Rochester, Minnesota. It was not exactly how I had planned the first week after my children were born. In Rochester, we met with a congental heart defect surgeon, Dr. Francisco Puga. He decided to have Mitch monitored in the NICU until they could determine the best course of action which was probably surgery. Mitch was born weighing 6 lbs 13 1/2 oz so he seemed like a GIANT in the NICU with all the pre-term babies!
The course of action for tricuspid atresia is a series of 3 surgeries. The first surgery is a banding surgery since Mitch had too much blood flow going into his lungs. At 12 days old, Mitch underwent his first surgery. The surgery went well and he began eating as soon as the staff would let him so he was dismissed from the hospital 6 days later.
The second surgery was performed on October 13, 2005 when Mitch was 8 months old. This surgery routed blood flow that would affect his upper body. His stay after that surgery was only 5 days.
The third surgery, called the fontane, was performed on April 13, 2007. This completed the series of surgeries and re-routed blood flow for his lower extremities. Mitch was in the hospital for a week after that third surgery. Mitch's toes were actually pink after the surgery since he had better blood circulation.
Mitch truly is our brave little man. He has brought so much joy into our lives. It's been a challenging road but we have the most wonderful little boy and are thankful to God for this precious gift.
Mitch had an annual check-up with his local cardiologist 2 months ago and he is doing well. We were told by his cardiologist that when he starts pre-school in the fall that he doesn't want Mitch to be treated any differently than any of the other children. That statement was music to our ears!
Mitch was the "poster prince" for our local American Heart Association Heart Walk as well as the Siouxland Heart Walk.
Mike, Pam, Megan and Mitch Roling