In early 2015, soon after we got engaged, we discovered I was expecting our first child together.
At first, everything seemed fine. We knew it was a boy, and all the early tests seen good. Because I had gone into labor very early with my first child, I was seeing a high-risk doctor and decided to do every test they asked for.
But at the 20-week ultrasound, things transformed. The doctors suddenly got very quiet. Then the doctor entered the room and informed us that our baby was facing serious health issues.
His heart had a difficult defect called Tetralogy of Fallot, and there were also brain abnormalities they couldn’t fully understand. They said the baby might not live, and we were given the option to end the pregnancy. We decided to have an MRI to learn more about the situation.
Two days before I turned 24 weeks, the results came back. The doctors said our son was not going to die before birth, but they still didn’t know exactly what was wrong.
We kept going with the pregnancy and had a beautiful wedding on the beach in La Jolla, California. I had weekly doctor visits and monthly heart scans. Everything stayed stable, which made things easier. We decided to induce labor at 39 weeks. But at 37 weeks, my water broke and I didn’t even feel it. About 12 hours later, the contractions started. I was 4 centimeters dilated but then I got an infection. After a painful labor and two epidurals that didn’t work, I asked for a C-section.
During the surgery, everything became scary. I felt like I was drowning. There was shouting and lots of activity. My heart stopped for a moment—I coded. Vicente Jr. was born at 1:30 p.m., but he wasn’t breathing. They did CPR for three minutes before he started breathing on his own. He needed oxygen for a short time and was taken to the NICU. It took a while for me to wake up after the surgery.
When I finally saw him, he looked different from what I had imagined. The following day, we were told he had Apert syndrome along with a heart defect.
His fingers and toes were fused together, and his head shape was unusual because his skull bones fused too early. The first surgery to separate his fingers was hard to see, but watching him use his hands now brings me so much joy. He still has several surgeries ahead of him.
Vicente Jr. stayed in the NICU for more than two weeks while doctors ran tests to understand everything. Now, he’s just over three years old and has had 29 surgeries. He faces many challenges like seizures, lung problems, and trouble eating. He uses a feeding tube, oxygen, and a trach. He isn’t walking yet but he keeps moving forward in his own way.
Even though his journey is tough, Jr is a fighter and we love him fiercely. We have a great medical team helping us, and every day we take it as it comes, grateful for every moment with him.
