Smile

Baby Born With Only Half A Heart Smiles For The First Time [Video]

Published

4 years ago

March 13, 2020

She Who Makes You Smile

Photo Credit: Alexandria Nelson/Facebook

Teddy is only 6 months old but he has never been out of the hospital since he was born.
He was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome which means his left heart is not functioning.
When he smiled for the first time, his parents were overwhelmed with tears of joy!

Theodore Nelson was born into the world with quite a challenging life.

But the 6-month-old baby is a fighter! He has spent his first months in the hospital and he is holding on tightly. His resilience is very inspiring.

His recent victory in his battle for life had his parents, Michael and Alexandria from Buffalo, New York, cheering out loud!

Teddy was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome—the left side of his heart is underdeveloped. He had his first open-heart surgery 15 minutes after he was born.

Since then, he had to stay in the hospital. His body had developed other health problems such as gallbladder issues, an enlarged liver, and a collapsed lung. He has never been outside the UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh even once.

In November last year, Teddy had his second surgery and had a stroke! His family was very worried about what may happen to him and if he might even get to reach some milestones in life as a baby.

“We weren’t sure the connections were there in the brain to allow a smile to show on his face,” Alexandria told GMA. But the little warrior showed everyone an amazing feat that signified a “huge glimmer of hope.”

On February 6, Teddy smiled for the first time! His parents and his 4-year-old sister were so thrilled!

Miracle Teddy ♥️ Baby, fighting for his life, smiles for the first time at 157 days old, and his parents cry tears of joy at this miraculous moment. "We patiently waited 157 days for Theodore's first smile on Feb 3rd! All the sedation from enduring two open heart surgeries, suffering a stroke and coming through six different intubations had sadly prolonged his first smile. A few days after his 5th month birthday, he gave us a new glimmer of HOPE that will carry us through the rest of this chapter before coming home. We can say, without a doubt, that a smile has NEVER meant so much to us." ~Alexandria Nelson, Teddy's mom Teddy's story from Hope Rises can be found here: https://www.hoperisesnews.com/single-post/2019/10/10/Turning-to-HOPE-the-story-of-miracle-baby-Theodore-RichardPosted by Hope Rises on Thursday, February 27, 2020

“Working towards the traditional developmental milestones with ‘half a heart’ is like climbing Mount Everest against every unfavorable condition that exists,” Alexandria said.
“I jumped for joy, I cheered out loud, I cried happy tears, and gave a whole lot of thanks to God… all while proudly standing next to our baby on that mountaintop!”

Teddy may be excited to go home but he still has to have his third surgery and a lot of things too. We all believe he can do it and grow to be a beautiful man!