A Rainbow After Many Storms

Every time Stephanie Rodriguez and her husband, JC, lay eyes on their 6-month-old daughter, Vida Rose, they can’t help but call her their miracle rainbow baby. The couple never imagined having another child would be a struggle filled with lots of heartache. After two miscarriages and a chemical pregnancy,* Stephanie wasn’t sure if a viable pregnancy was even possible for her.

“When I had my son, he was a total surprise,” said Stephanie. “I didn’t have any complications carrying him to term. Then, when he turned 4, my husband and I wanted to have a second baby so our son could have a sibling. It took me nine months to get pregnant. At our baby’s 24-week anatomy scan, I found out our daughter, Ruby Rose, had passed at 18 weeks. It was when COVID first started. My appointments were spaced out because my doctor reduced our visits during COVID. When I heard the words, ‘There is no heartbeat,’ I never thought that this would happen to me. Because literally, no one in my family that I know of – my mother, grandma, my aunts, the women in my family – had a miscarriage. I hadn’t felt the baby move because I was overweight. I thought maybe I’m just too big to feel her move. The loss was so painful for me.”

Dr. Emma Rodriguez provided preconception counseling to help Stephanie have a healthy pregnancy.

After her miscarriage, Stephanie began seeing Dr. Emma Rodriguez, a high-risk maternal fetal medicine physician at The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio and Dr. Mary Stokes, an OB-GYN with CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic. Because she had a prior history of miscarriage, Stephanie had preconception counseling with Drs. Rodriguez and Stokes to plan for a future pregnancy. Struggling with the devastating loss of her daughter, Stephanie wanted to get pregnant right away because she felt a nagging feeling inside of her – she had a baby one day and the next day it was taken away from her. In July 2020, Stephanie was pregnant again.

Dr. Mary Stokes with CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic, was Stephanie’s OB-GYN as she continued to try and have for a second baby.

“I was happy to be pregnant, but I was nervous at the same time,” said Stephanie. “I didn’t want this pregnancy to be like the last one. So, my husband and I were cautiously optimistic. When I came in for a six-week ultrasound, my doctor saw a fetal pole (first visible sign of a developing embryo) but there wasn’t a heartbeat. We went week by week to see – maybe the baby is too small. Every week when we went in for an ultrasound, there was no heartbeat. When I was nine weeks along, I had a D&C.** A few months later, I had a chemical pregnancy in February 2021. As much as I wanted another baby, I cried because I just felt like a failure over and over again.”

Stephanie was cautiously optimistic about being pregnant again after several miscarriages. She is grateful to the doctors at The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio who were there for her every step of the way.

Then, in April 2021, Stephanie found out she was pregnant with Vida Rose. But this time, she didn’t tell her husband the baby news just yet. She waited until she had her blood drawn at her OB-GYN’s office to confirm the faint pink lines she saw on her pregnancy test were indeed true.

“When the time came for me to share the baby news with my husband, I wanted to make it extra special for him,” said Stephanie. “I had a box that I made, and I ordered a onesie with a rainbow on it. I bought some little baby shoes and put them in the box along with the positive pregnancy test. When he opened the box, he was happy because he knew how sad I was with our losses. My mom was thrilled to hear the news. The rest of our family was hoping for the best for us.”

Due to her history of recurrent pregnancy loss and testing indicating she was at increased risk for clotting, Dr. Rodriguez prescribed Lovenox, a blood thinning medication which was taken throughout her pregnancy. When Stephanie was six weeks pregnant, she had her first ultrasound. Baby Vida Rose’s measurements were spot on. As her first and second trimesters passed by, everything was going smoothly. Stephanie and her baby were doing well.

“Every time I went in for an ultrasound, I could see my baby’s heartbeat,” said Stephanie. “When I could see her on the doppler at home and see her heartbeat, it made me feel less nervous. I’d check on her heartbeat often. Is she still alive? Is there a heartbeat? I kept thinking those things throughout my pregnancy. I could not stand to go through the loss of another baby. I wasn’t able to relax until Vida Rose was in my arms. As the days got closer to my induction, I started getting more nervous. I was like, I am going to have two babies now, a 4-year-old and now a newborn.”

The Rodriguez family was thrilled to welcome Vida Rose when she arrived in early January.

On January 3, 2022, when Stephanie was 39 weeks along, she and her husband, JC, welcomed their daughter, Vida Rose, at The Children’s Hospital. She weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces. Stephanie was excited to finally see her baby’s face because every time she had a 3-D ultrasound, Vida would always hide her face. She thought maybe her daughter wanted her debut to be a big surprise.

“When the nurses put Vida in my arms for the first time, it was just like we were meant for each other,” said Stephanie. “Vida is my miracle baby for sure. She is now a happy, healthy 6-month-old who loves to eat. She doesn’t want me to put her down. She’s like a little koala holding on to me. I wouldn’t have it any other way. While this was a difficult journey, I had a wonderful support system that helped me through it. My husband was definitely my rock, and my entire family was supportive. I am also thankful to Dr. Rodriguez and Dr. Stokes for being with me on this journey. They were rooting for me and were always there to answer my questions and concerns. They both knew my history so they did everything they could to ensure a successful pregnancy.”

The Rodriguez family considers Vida Rose a miracle baby after they experienced multiple miscarriages.

The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio has an entire team of maternal fetal medicine specialists caring for women experiencing high-risk pregnancies. For more information about the Centers for Maternal and Fetal Medicine, visit our website:

Maternal Fetal Medicine | San Antonio, TX | Children’s Hospital (christushealth.org)

*A chemical pregnancy is an early miscarriage that happens in the first five weeks of pregnancy.

**D&C stands for dilation and curettage, a procedure in which a doctor uses a spoon-shaped instrument to scrape the lining of the uterus to remove tissue.

Our little heart warrior: Our story of hope and perseverance

Just before Valentine’s Day 2021, Jennifer and Alejandro Cantu, already parents to 3-year-old Camila and 2-year-old Lyla, were thrilled when they found out their family would be growing once again.

“I was surprised and excited,” said Jennifer. “I waited the following day to tell my husband in a cute little way. I bought a bunch of Valentine’s Day knickknacks – five gum balls, five little hearts, 5 little bubbles – five of everything, and put it in a basket along with a bundle of wrapped up positive pregnancy tests. I wrote on the heart, “What do you think of the number five?” My husband was puzzled at first and then he finally got it. We were thrilled to find out that we were having another baby sooner than expected.”

Unlike her first two pregnancies, Jennifer was extremely sick during this one – the constant morning sickness just wouldn’t go away. She felt nauseated all the time and super tired. As much as she loved chocolate, she couldn’t eat sweets because it would make her feel sick, which was strange to her.

Jennifer and Alejandro excitedly awaited the arrival of their third child they would name Jax. Jennifer was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and she soon learned her son would be born with a heart defect.

“I knew something was off,” said Jennifer. “I could tell my body wasn’t responding normally. Every time I would eat something sweet, I would get sick. It wasn’t like pregnancy sick. It was more jittery, like I was going to pass out because my sugar was off. So, my maternal fetal medicine (MFM) physician in Georgetown, north of Austin, gave me a two-hour gestational diabetes test and I failed it. Since I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, I had to adjust to a strict diet. I wasn’t allowed to eat sweets. I couldn’t drink any juice, just water. I ate a lot of chicken, vegetables and eggs, and I had to check my sugars three times a day after every meal. That was challenging as well because pricking your finger hurts when you do it wrong.”

As Jennifer was dealing with pregnancy challenges of her own, it wasn’t until she was 28 weeks along that she found out her baby boy had a ventricular septal defect (VSD), a type of congenital heart defect where a hole forms in the wall between the ventricles, the main pumping chambers of the heart. Her MFM physician wasn’t too concerned about it at the time, and told Jennifer that after her son’s birth, he would need another echocardiogram to check on his heart condition to see if he needed interventions.

“After we relocated our family to San Antonio, I began seeing Dr. Angela Akonye, an OB-GYN at the Women’s Center in Westover Hills,” said Jennifer. “I updated her on my gestational diabetes diagnosis and that my son had a small hole in his heart. Dr. Akonye referred me to Dr. James Hill,  an Maternal Fetal Medicine physician at The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio (CHofSA). I was about 30 weeks when my husband and I saw Dr. Hill for the first time. He gave us such a warm welcome. He was knowledgeable and made us feel comfortable. He just gave off a really good vibe. No question was a dumb question for him. He gave us that platform to talk and he just listened to us and answered any questions or concerns that we had.”

Jennifer and Alejandro were impressed by the care and attention they received from Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist Dr. James Hill. “He just listened to us and answered any questions or concerns we had,” Jennifer said.

Then, Dr. Hill referred Jennifer to The Children’s Hospital to have a fetal echocardiogram. He wanted to make sure nothing else was wrong with her baby’s heart. After the echocardiogram, she met with Dr. Chetan Sharma, who would become her son’s pediatric cardiologist. At the time, Dr. Sharma noticed a small hole in his heart and was concerned about a possible narrowing of the aortic arch so he suggested Jennifer deliver at CHofSA.

“I met with Dr. Hill and told him everything about my son’s echocardiogram,” said Jennifer. “Even though the test showed my son had a hole in his heart, Dr. Hill was adamant about us delivering at Children’s Hospital because they had a great team in place. I will never forget what he told me that still resonates with me today. He said, ‘After you deliver, make sure you get an echo done ASAP to rule out any other problems. Do not leave the hospital until you get it. Your baby needs that test.’”

A few days leading up to the birth of their son, Jennifer embraced the last couple of days being pregnant and spent quality time with her husband and their two girls. She soaked in that little bit of time she had before their newest addition joined their family. This third pregnancy was bittersweet for the couple since this was their final pregnancy. This would be the last time Jennifer would experience giving birth to another baby and the emotions that come along with meeting that precious newborn for the first time.  

“I was already 3 centimeters dilated by the time I got to the hospital for my induction around 9 p.m.,” said Jennifer. “I didn’t get Pitocin until the next morning because they wanted to wait to see if my body would progress on its own. An hour or two after I got an epidural, I was ready to push. I pushed for about two minutes, and not long after that, my husband and I welcomed our beautiful son, Jax, on October 5, 2021. He was almost 8 pounds and he cried immediately when he was born. It was a surreal moment for us. This was my last baby, so I experienced a mixture of emotions that day. I was also very anxious too. I knew Jax had a hole in his heart and that he needed to get an echocardiogram right away. I recalled what Dr. Hill told me over and over again – do not leave the hospital until he gets that test.”

Jennifer experienced a range of emotions when she gave birth to her son Jax, knowing he would need additional tests to determine the extent of his heart defect.

The next morning, the cardiology team entered Jennifer’s room to perform an echocardiogram, or an ultrasound of Jax’s heart.  They started the echocardiogram, and when Jennifer woke up from her nap, she noticed they were still in the room. When they finally left, Jennifer and her husband grew concerned that the echo took longer than usual. They began wondering if something else was wrong with their son’s heart. Moments later, a swarm of doctors came in the room. The cardiologist on call told them Jax had a hole in his heart called a PDA, or Patent Ductus Arteriosus, which would mostly likely close on its own. A PDA is diagnosed when the ductus arteriosus, or the opening between the aorta (the artery that carries oxygen-rich blood to the body) and the pulmonary artery (the artery that carries oxygen-poor blood to the lungs) does not close as it should. Jax also had two other heart defects, a bicuspid valve and a Coarctation of the aorta. The last diagnosis is what concerned the doctors the most.

“The doctor drew us a diagram of Jax’s heart,” said Jennifer. “He said he had a narrowing of the aorta, which forces the heart to pump harder to get blood through the aorta and to the rest of the body. He said Jax had a PDA that was open. If that closes, he wasn’t going to have enough blood pumping to his lower organs. So, his organs were going to start to fail – his liver, kidneys, everything would shut down. It was less than 24 hours that I had my baby in my arms and all this stuff started to hit me – one thing after another. I started to bawl my eyes out. I was in shock and was terrified. The cardiologist told me this wasn’t an affirmative diagnosis because they were still waiting for the PDA to close to see what would happen to the narrowing of the aorta. They did another echo later that day. The PDA closed, and it revealed that he had coarcation of the aorta. When the doctors left, I just kept thinking about Dr. Hill and what he told me early on in my pregnancy – and I am glad I listened to him. If my baby didn’t get that test at that point in time, he would have died. My son is literally here today because of Dr. Hill.”

Jax needed heart surgery. But until he had his surgery, his cardiology team wanted to keep the PDA open for a few more days. They wanted Jax to be at least a week old before he had surgery. While his nurses took care of him in the NICU, Jax was given medication to keep the PDA open to allow blood flow to his body beyond the coarctation. Jennifer and her husband met with Dr. Victor Bautista-Hernandez, a cardiothoracic surgeon at The Children’s Hospital, who explained how he would repair Jax’s defect.

Dr. Victor Bautista-Hernandez, a cardiothoracic surgery, helped explain Jax’s condition to Jennifer and Alejandro. Dr. Bautista eventually performed three separate operations to help Jax’s heart function normally.

“Newborns who have extensive narrowing in the aorta usually need surgery soon after birth,” said Dr. Bautista. “To repair coarctation surgically, clamps are placed on the aorta to quickly interrupt blood flow to downstream areas. In Jax’s case, we performed a resection with anastomosis where we removed the narrowed segment of the aorta and reconnected the two ends together. When we did the first repair, I didn’t like what I was seeing after we closed him up and did an echocardiogram. We had to redo the repair twice before I was satisfied with the repair surgery. Jax did well during the procedure. With this repair, we were able to open the narrowed aorta to allow enough blood to flow throughout his body.”

Dr. Chetan Sharma, a pediatric cardiologist at The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, continues to monitor Jax’s condition to ensure his heart keeps working as it should.

After his surgery, Jax was swollen, heavily sedated and hooked up to many different machines, as he spent one week in the PICU recovering before he could go home. Now, 9 months old, Jax is doing great. Jennifer says everything is checking out well for him developmental wise. While he has a very slight narrowing in his aorta, his blood pressure medication is maintaining it, so it doesn’t close. He sees his cardiologist, Dr. Sharma, every month for follow-up visits. He won’t need another surgery, but he may need a ballooning or a stent procedure to expand his artery down the road if the narrowing returns. He still has a bicuspid valve, but his doctors are monitoring it closely. He doesn’t need additional surgery at this time.

Jennifer believes Dr. James Hills’ advice regarding an immediate ultrasound of Jax’s heart may have saved her baby’s life.

“I am so grateful to all of the doctors who took great care of our son,” said Jennifer. “I had a wonderful experience at Children’s Hospital.  First of all, I want to thank my MFM physician, Dr. Hill. I owe my son’s life to this man. If my son didn’t get that echocardiogram soon after he was born, the situation would have been much different. Dr. Bautista was an amazing surgeon. It’s hard working with little patients. You don’t know what to expect. They are very small and vulnerable, but he was the miracle worker. His nurse practitioner, Amanda, was awesome and updated me on everything going on in the OR. She was reassuring us and providing us with detailed information and was always there when we needed her. We are just happy to have Jax with us. He is a living and breathing miracle. He completes our family.”

The Heart Center at The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio provides comprehensive care to children with rare to complex heart problems. To learn more about our Heart Center, please visit:

Pediatric Cardiology & Heart Care | CHRISTUS Health

To learn more about diagnosing and treating gestational diabetes, please read: https://chofsablog.org/2021/09/29/youve-been-diagnosed-with-gestational-diabetes-now-what/

Heart to Heart: The Gift of Motherhood

For Tierany Narro, there’s nothing quite like celebrating motherhood for the first time. Two months ago, she welcomed her beautiful daughter, Paityn, into the world. From the moment their eyes met, Tierany fell in love with her instantly. Just as she imagined, their mother-daughter bond grew stronger than ever.

“My first day as a mother was everything I could have wanted and more,” said Tierany. “My fiancé, Byron, and I celebrated this special milestone as we bonded with our new baby. To be able to care for another life other than my own, and to love this cute little human that we created together, is such an amazing and indescribable feeling. Our daughter is the most precious gift that we could have ever asked for.”

For the longest time, Tierany wasn’t sure if she could have a baby. When she was 11 years old, she was diagnosed with Long QT syndrome (LQTS), a rare heart rhythm disorder. Her heart’s electrical system took longer to recharge causing her to have rapid and chaotic heartbeats. Even the slightest physical activity or emotional excitement could trigger an episode. LQTS causes fainting and seizures, and if left untreated, it can lead to sudden cardiac arrest. Tierany didn’t know she had it until her first episode.

“I was racing my brother and cousin on the trail,” recalled Tierany. “The only thing that I remember was I could only breathe in. I could not breathe out. I was rushed to the hospital and when doctors did an EKG on me, I found out that I had LQTS. It was a crazy experience. As a kid, you want to ride rollercoasters, get spooked at haunted houses, play sports and I wasn’t allowed to do any of those things. The only sport I was allowed to play was golf. I had to avoid anything that raised my blood pressure and heart rate. I was put on beta blockers to slow my heart rate down which I still take today. When I found out I was pregnant, my doctors treated my pregnancy as if it was high risk due to my heart issue. They were concerned how my heart would handle the delivery.”

Tierany wasn’t sure she could even get pregnancy and have a baby. Once she found out she was goign to have a baby, her OB-GYN referred her to Dr. James Hill, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist, to closely monitor her high-risk pregnancy.

Throughout her pregnancy, Tierany began seeing OB-GYN Dr. George Cajas, who referred her to Dr. James Hill, a high-risk maternal-fetal medicine specialist at The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio. She saw Dr. Hill once a month for the first trimester. Then, halfway through her second trimester, she had weekly visits with Dr. Hill since she resumed taking her medication for LQTS. Since beta blockers can impact the growth of the baby, Dr. Hill checked Paityn’s growth curve every three weeks. Paityn was growing at a normal pace, but her growth lagged during the third trimester. Her growth would be a few days behind and then a week behind – but it was only in certain parts of her body. Her little belly was measuring the furthest behind. Paityn was doing fine. She was just on her own little growth curve.

Maternal and Fetal Medicine Specialist Dr. James Hill helps expectant moms manage their high-risk pregnancies. Dr. Hill ran a number of tests during Tierany’s high-risk pregnancy to make sure her heart could withstand the stress of labor.

“My excitement grew as I neared the end of my pregnancy,” said Tierany. “During my last trimester, Dr. Hill performed nonstress tests on my daughter to monitor her heart rate and to see if I had contractions at the same time. If I had contractions, the nonstress test would let Dr. Hill know how well Paityn was tolerating those contractions. When I started having Braxton Hicks, I met every week with Dr. Cajas and Dr. Hill. They did nonstress tests on my baby twice a week. They wanted to space them apart so if I was having contractions, they could see it. At every appointment, they talked to me about my birth plan.”

The plan was to deliver Paityn at 40 weeks. Dr. Hill explained to Tierany the risks and benefits with trying to deliver naturally versus a Cesarean section due to her heart condition. The goal was to put the least amount of stress on her heart, but it was up to Tierany to make that final decision. A few days before Tierany was admitted to the hospital, Dr. Hill compiled detailed notes on what Tierany could and couldn’t do. As much as possible, he did not want her to feel any contractions or do anything that would increase her blood pressure and accelerate her heart rate especially leading up to the birth of her daughter.

When Tierany arrived at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital – Westover Hills on March 27, 2022, the nurses started her on a Foley balloon, a catheter-like device that helps the cervix dilate when labor needs to be induced. Her cervix dilated to 3.5 centimeters before she began feeling light cramping and contractions. The next morning, Tierany had an epidural to help speed up her progress. She was on a continuous slow and light drip of Pitocin to avoid hyperstimulation because of her heart condition. Her nurses did not want her to feel the contractions. Later that evening, when Tierany had not progressed, Dr. Cajas broke her water.

“The slow drip of Pitocin helped me dilate but it wasn’t doing too much,” said Tierany. “I didn’t realize that once my water broke, my contractions got very serious. I had an IV in my left arm that had Pitocin, magnesium and other fluids. The magnesium helped with my heart. My doctors also gave me potassium pills for my heart, and I was still taking my beta blocker medications. Then, around four in the morning, I started feeling intense contractions. I clicked the epidural button to draw more medicine, but it was almost empty. I called my nurse, and she stepped in to help. Later that morning when Dr. Cajas checked on me to see my progress, he could feel my baby’s head. I was super excited and so ready to finally meet her.”

Since Tierany’s pregnancy was high risk, her doctors planned everything out in case something happened during delivery. Tierany was hooked up to an EKG telemonitor to monitor her heart rate throughout the birth process. They also had a crash cart ready just in case she had to be resuscitated. Luckily, there were no complications. On March 29, 2022, at 10:09 a.m., after three pushes, Tierany and her fiancé, Byron, welcomed their precious baby daughter, Paityn, into the world. She weighed 6 pounds and 15 ounces.

“I got so emotional when I saw Paityn for the first time,” Tierany. “I got to see her little face looking right at me. We didn’t see her face but one time during my pregnancy because she always covered herself. Our daughter is two months old now, and she is nothing short of a miracle. She has a such a little attitude and a big personality. She is a happy baby, but she will give you mean faces when she demands something. She loves to be held all the time. She loves to eat. She eats four ounces every two hours. And she just started sleeping through the night. When she wakes up, she’ll scream at the top of her lungs like mommy, please feed me. She’s the cutest thing ever. While there were risks involved with me being pregnant, I was blessed with wonderful, caring doctors. Dr. Cajas and Dr. Hill were both amazing and followed my pregnancy closely. The nurses were great. They understood me and validated my concerns. They were always there whenever I needed them. They cared for me not just as a patient, but as a human being.”

Tierany says 2-month-old Paityn has a big personality. She’s grateful to the doctors who cared for her and for those who will monitor Paityn’s condition throughout her childhood.

After her daughter’s birth, Tierany had Paityn tested for LQTS since this heart problem can be genetically passed on. Tierany got the LQTS chromosome from her father. After taking a buccal swab test, the results came back two weeks later. Just like Tierany, Paityn also has the same heart condition. She’ll have regular visits with her cardiologist at The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, Dr. Arpit Agrawal, throughout her life – but just like her mother, she can still enjoy life to the fullest.

Because Paityn was diagnosed with LQTS through genetic testing, Pediatric Cardiologist Dr. Arpit Agrawal will now monitor her heart as she grows.

“I am glad we did the buccal swab test and caught it when she was a newborn,” said Tierany. “Most kids find out they have it much later when they get their first episode, since there are no symptoms early on. While I didn’t want her to have LQTS, I know my baby can still live a healthy, vivacious life just like me.” To learn more about the Centers for Maternal and Fetal Care at The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio and how we care for high-risk pregnancies, please visit:  Maternal Fetal Medicine | San Antonio, TX | Children’s Hospital (christushealth.org)