Premature Baby, 'Mighty Girl' Survives Heart Procedure
- 10 years ago
A tiny baby, who has earned the nickname of ‘Mighty Girl’ is recovering after a heart procedure.
A tiny baby, who has earned the nickname of ‘Mighty Girl’ is recovering after a heart procedure. Alexandra Van Kirk, or Sasha as she is also known, had been very active while in the womb, but she wasn’t growing at a normal rate.
Doctors were forced to take action and Sasha was born by cesarean section eight weeks early in July. At birth, she weighed a little more than two pounds.
Doctors knew Sasha had an exceptionally narrowed heart valve. Two weeks after she came into the world, surgeons successfully widened her heart valve in a procedure called pulmonary balloon valvuloplasty. Now, Sasha is recovering.
Her mother, 36-year-old Heidi Van Kirk remarked “Ever since I could feel her, she’s been moving and kicking and kicking to the point it hurt me. Since she’s been out, she’s just been moving and kicking and fighting for everything.”
Sasha has gained some weight and now the scale reads 2 pounds and 15 ounces.
She remains in the neonatal intensive care unit in the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her family isn’t quite sure when they will be able to bring her home, but they’re hoping she’ll be out of the hospital sometime next month.
A tiny baby, who has earned the nickname of ‘Mighty Girl’ is recovering after a heart procedure. Alexandra Van Kirk, or Sasha as she is also known, had been very active while in the womb, but she wasn’t growing at a normal rate.
Doctors were forced to take action and Sasha was born by cesarean section eight weeks early in July. At birth, she weighed a little more than two pounds.
Doctors knew Sasha had an exceptionally narrowed heart valve. Two weeks after she came into the world, surgeons successfully widened her heart valve in a procedure called pulmonary balloon valvuloplasty. Now, Sasha is recovering.
Her mother, 36-year-old Heidi Van Kirk remarked “Ever since I could feel her, she’s been moving and kicking and kicking to the point it hurt me. Since she’s been out, she’s just been moving and kicking and fighting for everything.”
Sasha has gained some weight and now the scale reads 2 pounds and 15 ounces.
She remains in the neonatal intensive care unit in the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her family isn’t quite sure when they will be able to bring her home, but they’re hoping she’ll be out of the hospital sometime next month.