Baby Rowan's Open Heart Surgery

January 12th, 2019 was the best day of my loving cousin, Erin and her husband Vinny’s life, they welcomed their baby girl Rowan Michele Andy into the world! They planned on taking Rowan home and starting their lives as parents with a healthy 6 lb 1 oz baby girl, however, that unfortunately was not the case. The pediatrician discovered a heart murmur which led to further medical testing, a cardiologist then explained a diagnosis that forever changed their lives. Sweet baby Rowan had congenital heart disease (CHD) and 3 holes in her heart (patent ductus arteriosus, atrial septal defect and a ventricular septal defect). Basically, Rowan’s heart was not pumping correctly which interfered with normal blood circulation and placed additional strain on the rest of her organs and fragile little body.
Three weeks later when returning to the cardiologist, Rowan only weighed 6 lbs and 4 oz, she was unable to gain weight because her breathing was so rapid. Rowan was prescribed diuretics to remove the excess fluid surrounding her lungs in hopes that this would help her breathing. Three weeks and numerous medical tests later, Rowan’s condition had worsened. At this point Rowan was admitted into the cardiac step-down unit at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital on February 15th . A feeding tube was placed in Rowan’s nose to help her gain weight which she has had it in ever since. Rowan was finally discharged on February 22nd but continued to see the cardiologist regularly every 3-5 days.

On March 22nd Rowan still had not gained enough weight (failure to thrive) and there was more fluid surrounding her lungs. Rowan was now considered to be in heart failure and developed pulmonary valve stenosis. They spent another 9 days at Rainbow Babies before they were discharged with more medications for her heart failure. Since Rowan remained symptomatic after endless testing and multiple medication adjustments, the cardiologist decided they had exhausted all their options and Rowan needed open heart surgery.

Rowan is scheduled to have open heart surgery on Monday, April 29th at Rainbow Babies Hospital. Following the 5-hour surgery, Rowan will be closely monitored at the hospital for 7-10 days if everything goes well. The recovery is expected to take 6-8 weeks and it could still be months before Rowan’s heart works properly. If all goes as planned Rowan still has a very long road ahead of her, but she is a fighter and she needs your help.

CHD affects 1 in 100 children and is the most common birth defect. Despite all the medical problems Rowan has undergone in her short life, Erin and Vinny feel so incredibly blessed to have her and hope that following surgery they will have a fairly “normal” baby girl. Erin hasn’t been able to return to work and Vinny has had to take a lot of time off in order to care for their daughter. They have gone above and beyond to ensure Rowan receives the treatment she needs but her medical expenses are quickly piling up since they have been living off one part-time income. Their insurance has not covered many of Rowan's expenses so they had to pay out of pocket for more than they could have ever prepared for. Please consider donating to help cover Rowan’s medical expenses. If you are unable to donate, please pray that Rowan’s surgery goes as planned and share this GoFundMe Page so we can share her story and spread awareness about CHD.


Any donations will help tremendously and will be greatly appreciated, thank you so much!