A California woman who was born with half of a functioning heart has given birth to perfectly healthy babies, defying all odds.
Owing to her birth disorder, Chelsea Byrnes couldn’t even do PE when she was a kid. “I just always had to take a back seat,” she told KCRA.
In fact, several doctors have predicted that Chelsea would hardly make it to 10 years of age.
Chelsea’s mother Erin Arena recalled, “I had doctors’ appointments when she was young where they told me she would live to be five. They were wrong.”
While medical care was a major factor behind Chelsea’s survival, her own grit and determination also played a key role.
“I always knew it was scary,” she said. “I always knew I had to make good decisions in life. I always knew health was a priority.”
Though doctors had repeatedly told her that she would never become a mother, Chelsea never believed so.
“Honestly, a lot of [doctors] said, ‘Absolutely not,’” the 30-year-old said of the response she heard from doctors. “A lot of them said, ‘Well, you’re never going to have kids.
“It was heartbreaking, honestly, because I knew in my heart I could do it. I knew I could be a mom. I just needed someone to believe in me.”
Fortunately, Chelsea found a doctor who felt differently.
When Dr Pei-Hsiu Huang, Director of Adult Congenital Heart Disease at Sutter Medical Center, learned Chelsea’s story, he decided to treat her.
And thanks to his tireless care, close monitoring, and selfless devotion, Chelsea was able to give birth to two adorable and perfectly healthy children.
“There are still absolutely a lot of unknowns about it,” Dr Huang said.
“We have yet to see patients through the rest of their life who were born with these conditions are now finally surviving.”
“It is possible for her — in particular — to have children because she is so fit, and her cardiovascular disease had been so well taken care of,” he added.
Chelsea couldn’t be more thankful to the kind doctor.
“Without Dr. Huang I can’t say that having children would have been possible,” she said. “Just the relief I felt, my husband felt, my mother felt was everything we dreamed of.”
Recommended Video – “Mother of Five Gave Birth To Her Sixth Child In Her Garden”