SAN ANTONIO — A welcome to the world was greeted with a big scare. A Del Rio baby not even a day old had to undergo heart surgery.
The surgery was performed in San Antonio by Dr. Aaron Abarbanell.
"He had a pretty severe emergency, (a) form of congenital heart disease," he said.
Dr. Abarbanell is the chief of pediatric cardiac surgery at University Health. He is also an associate professor and division chief of the Congenital Heart Program at UT Health San Antonio.
In November, Brianna Vasquez gave birth to her baby boy Naabaahii Smith.
"I didn't even get to hug him or anything," the mom said. "The first thing I asked them is why he is so blue?"
The mother of six missing those first baby moments.
"I didn't get to hear him cry," she said.
She was given the news her newborn had to be airlifted. Naabaahii was having problems with his oxygen saturation.
"The whole night was terrible," she said. "Because I didn't know what was going on."
The mom had to stay behind in Del Rio, while her son was taken to San Antonio. Only in the world for 14 hours, doctors told Vasquez that Naabaahii needed to have surgery.
"He had total anomalous pulmonary venous connection," Dr. Abarbanell said. “The blood flow that comes back to his lungs, instead of being connected to his heart in the normal fashion. It is actually going down through his liver and going back to his heart abnormally."
Vasquez on her way to San Antonio didn't even get a chance to see her son before going in the operating room.
"They couldn't wait," she said. "They had to do the surgery. There is risks. To not be able to kiss him and hold him before going into surgery, it was really hard."
The surgery lasted four hours. The baby boy is a fighter, which is fitting for his name.
"It is a perfect name for him, Naabaahii which means warrior," the mom said. "He definitely is a warrior."
Dr. Abarbanell recalling the day he got the call and said it was a matter of life or death.
"You would never know he had heart surgery, unless you saw the incision," he said.
Naabaahii, in mom's arms where he belongs, is now doing well.
"He is always smiling," she said. "Always smiling, like he is very happy and very good baby."
Naabaahii had a cardiology appointment last month, and everything looks good. Mom said he's on medication now.