The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Family thanks all who helped save newborn

Couple say holiday especially blessed after baby survives heart problem.

Staff photo by Teesha McClam Elizabeth and David Seibert hold their 6-week-old son, Ryan. Ryan has had two heart surgeries.

ENLARGE PHOTO

Psych evaluation ordered for teen accused of raping 64-year-old woman
Updated 1 min. ago
Lull in snowfall expected around rush hour
Updated 21 min. ago
Rape investigation stalls at Miami
Updated 21 min. ago
High school, college basketball makeup dates
1:38 p.m.
Waynesville schools to start using gift cards for fundraising
12:03 p.m.
> More headlines

By Kristin McAllister, Staff Writer 8:00 PM Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Just two weeks after his Oct. 12 birth, Elizabeth and David Seibert’s newborn son, Ryan, flatlined.

Today, at home in Franklin and after two open heart surgeries and on this Thanksgiving Day, the Seiberts are enjoying every single gurgle, burp, giggle and high-pitched cry their infant son makes, and thanking everyone who helped save his life.

“He’s our little blessing,” Elizabeth Seibert said. “I just can’t believe he’s here. We’re so grateful to everyone who was there for him and our family.”

Ryan’s medical issues began while visiting Elizabeth’s mother, Margie Portner, in Germantown. Seibert called 911 after noticing that Ryan’s breathing seemed unusual.

“Doctors immediately recognized a heart problem,” Portner said.

Ryan was then transported to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, where the next day, surgeons performed the first of two major operations to repair several holes in Ryan’s heart and rebuild a heart valve.

The second surgery was supposed to take place in a few months, but Ryan flatlined and it was moved up to Nov. 12, saving his life a second time.

The holiday will be especially blessed, Seibert said, noting that she and her husband brought Ryan home on Sunday, Nov. 22.

“Now, we just have to get his weight up, pack on the calories,” she said, adding that Ryan’s weight is about 8 pounds 4 ounces from 7 pounds 5 ounces.

Seibert said she has so many people to thank this holiday, from the ambulance personnel, EMTs, nurses and doctors in Dayton, to the medical staff and doctors in Cincinnati and at the Ronald McDonald House.

“It’s so overwhelming how so many helped out,” she said. “It really was a chain of many miraculous events that took place and a lot of really good people. We just sit and stare at Ryan and can’t believe he’s here with us. Thank you to everyone who helped.”

Share this article