Faith Westby

When Jeannie and Peter Westby named their second daughter, Jeannie's intuition may have been at work.

The couple chose the name Faith, and their faith has been even more important to them since their daughter was born two years ago.

"Throughout my pregnancy, I felt like something wasn't right," says Jeannie. "My first pregnancy had been so easy. I felt so tired this time."

Faith was born nine weeks prematurely, with multiple health challenges. Faith has Noonan's syndrome, an inherited disorder that causes abnormal development of many parts of the body. Faith's mother had a cesarean section to deliver her early when it was determined that Jeannie had an excessive amount of fluid.

The baby spent the next nine weeks in the hospital in neonatal intensive care.

"Faith had heart problems from the start and was in heart failure once. After she got out of the hospital, however, she didn't thrive," says Jeannie. "We just didn't feel like we had the complete picture. We weren't getting the answers we felt we needed. We couldn't give up on Faith."

The Westbys took the baby to Mayo Clinic when she was 10 months old. Cardiologist Allison Cabalka, M.D., examined Faith, did tests and immediately detected a large hole in the little girl's heart. The hole, an atrial septal defect that is common in children born with Noonan's syndrome, required early attention. Most children who have an atrial septal defect do not have symptoms so early in life. The extra blood flow across the atrial septal defect caused Faith to have congestion in her lungs and trouble breathing. She didn't tolerate those effects well because of Noonan's syndrome. Dr. Cabalka was able to patch the hole with a device via a catheter procedure and avoid open heart surgery.

"I'm so glad I listened to my intuition," says Jeannie. "I knew something more was wrong with Faith. I'm glad we kept pursuing answers and arrived at Mayo Clinic. After Faith's heart procedure, we could tell a difference in her right away. Before, when we held her and her toes and fingers dangled, they often turned blue and looked mottled. Now, everything turned pink, just like it should. And Faith has had so much more energy since her heart defect was repaired! She is happy go lucky and into everything.

"Faith has had many health challenges — eye surgery, ear tubes, asthma and tonsil removal," says Jeannie. "She has a low immune system and is prone to infection. Faith's medical team at Mayo Clinic is so thorough. Every doctor who sees her talks to her and remembers her. They let us know they are Faith's advocates. They truly care about her. If they don't know the answer to something, they keep working at it until they find the answer.

"When it became apparent that there was a problem with my pregnancy, I was terrified to know I might have a baby who wasn't perfect," says Jeannie. "But Faith has been a huge blessing to our family. We've learned that life sometimes takes a direction that we can't control. Facing Faith's health challenges has been the most difficult thing we have ever done. But we wouldn't change a thing. We wouldn't be who and where we are today if anything had been different. Our Faith has given us great strength."