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This family wanted a girl, but say they received a miracle instead

A little girl faces a rare heart condition. Surgeries to save her life begin only days after she's born.

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Lidia and Erik wanted a daughter after the birth of their three sons, Erik, Jacob and Moses. When Lidia became pregnant for the fourth time, her husband was convinced they finally would have a little girl. Even before he knew for sure, he chose to name the baby Grace.

“Because only God had grace and by the grace of God we would have a girl," he said.

When it was time to learn the gender of their baby, Lidia said, “We asked, is it a girl?” Instead, the nurse told them “the doctor will come to talk to you.”

"Then they took us into a different room. When I saw the doctor’s face, I told my wife something was not right,” said Erik.

The prenatal diagnosis at five months of Lidia’s pregnancy was a double inlet left ventricle (DILV) with an interrupted aortic arch. According to medical literature, some of the symptoms include heart failure, fluid buildup around the lungs, pale skin and the appearance of blue skin, failure to gain weight and poor feeding. Most troubling to the Garcia’s was that their baby would need several high-risk surgeries, starting within days of being born.

“I remember the first time we went to the hospital there was no interpreter. There was a nurse there who translated what the doctor was explaining, the things that were going to happen from then on,” said Lidia. "When she had translated everything she started to cry with us and said, ‘If I had known that I would give you this news, I would have never translated it for you.'”

Every year about 40-thousand babies, or 1 percent of all births in America, are born with congenital heart defects (CHD), according to the Center for Disease Control. But only about a fourth of those suffers from critical CHD. Most children with CHD need surgery within their first month of life, as well as subsequent surgeries thereafter.

The first surgery happened when Grace was three days old.

“That Thursday, a day before the surgery, the doctors wanted to talk to us and we went into a conference room. When I walked in, there were more than 25,” said Lidia. “I was so thankful to see so many people who did not even know us were going to take care of her. That’s when I felt we had a new family.”

Though scary for the family, the surgery went well. As did the second one.

Just before Christmas last year, Grace had already turned three when symptoms emerged. Erik knew it was time for her third surgery.

“She started getting ill. She would vomit every time she walked ten steps or so. Her nails started turning purple and we just noticed that she was not ok. It was not normal.”

With ongoing advances in medicine, children who used to live just a few years are now growing up to adulthood. But it is an ongoing battle for the children, their families, and the specialists trying their best to give children a shot at a long, healthy life.

Days after her release from UC Davis Children’s Hospital, Erik noticed Grace was short of breath. Lidia rushed her to the hospital while Erik was at work.

He said the doctors gave him the worst possible prognosis over the phone, “I wanted to let you know that you have to come because this might be the last time you see your daughter alive.”

The doctors said Grace’s organs could be just minutes away from failing, due to the pressure caused by an artery they believed to be obstructed.

That night Erik said he prayed for a miracle and hoped for the best while fearing the worst. He brought the boys to say their potential goodbyes and waited with family members and supportive hospital staff. Within hours he received a call and ran to his wife to give her the news.

“I got up and started running. I took the elevator down to the first floor. I left everyone behind. I saw my wife and I yelled at a distance: “she’s ok, she’s ok!”

The doctors said Grace’s veins were fine and they wouldn't have to perform a high-risk surgical procedure they feared necessary, while her tissues were still frail from the latest surgery.

“I said, 'God gave us a miracle,'” said Erik, who described having a mystical experience while he was deep in prayer the night before.

Lidia said she believes that at UC Davis Children’s Hospital, “many miracles happen.” She was most thankful for the support of the staff at every step of her daughter’s care, as well as the support they gave the three boys, who spent countless hours and even their latest Christmas at the hospital.

“I loved that the nurses would walk around the halls singing with my daughter… as if she was a star and the nurses’ cheerleader," she said. "They have all been a blessing. I love them.”

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