It was on her second day of life that a nurse noticed that alma had turned a little pale. Up until then, all seemed normal after an uneventful pregnancy.“The first 20 hours of birth were entirely blissful and making plans for her ” doctors at first thought alma might have a bacterial infection. But they also called in a cardiologist to check for possible congenital heart defects. In a matter of hours, we were told that the baby would need heart surgery or could die.Doctors described almas condition like this: She had two holes in his heart; her pulmonary artery was too narrow, her aorta was pinched and her heart was essentially pumping the wrong way. Her main arteries were reversed and so his blood was not getting enough oxygen.