Morgan Rondinella didn’t know if her heart could handle motherhood.
The Scranton resident longed to be a mom, but she feared congenital heart disease would keep her from becoming pregnant or carrying a baby to term.
Life delivered a surprise. She plans to give birth to a healthy baby girl this week — with joy, anticipation and feeling the healthiest she ever has in her 31 years.
She believes the pregnancy helped heal her heart.
“I'm so ready. I'm so excited. For the longest time, I've sort of struggled to feel like I have a purpose, but now I know, this is it. Being her mom, that's it,” she said. “So I'm very excited.”
Healing heart
Rondinella underwent three heart surgeries as a young child for her double inlet left ventricle defect. Only one pumping chamber works. Each year, she undergoes stress tests, echocardiograms and wears a heart monitor for a week.
She’s never been able to play contact sports and gets winded easily. She has to watch her blood pressure closely, and her oxygen saturation — or how much oxygen red blood cells are carrying — is lower than normal. Because her body works so hard to support her own life, doctors told her it would be hard for her body to support the life of an unborn child.
Rondinella and her boyfriend, Cyrus Entezam, 30, had always hoped to have children. When she got pregnant, she began to see a specialist along with regular obstetrician appointments.
Tests in February showed that valves that had always leaked had suddenly stopped. Her oxygen saturation was in the 90th percentile for the first time. Her doctors have suggested that stem cells from the baby could have traveled to her heart, she said.
“This is honestly the best I've ever felt, which is crazy, because usually whenever people get pregnant, they're like, ‘Oh God, help me,’” she said. "I've felt really, really good throughout the pregnancy.”
Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 2011 discovered that fetal stem cells could help the maternal heart recover after a heart attack or other injury. The researchers found that fetal stem cells from the placenta migrate to the heart of the mother and home to the site where an injury occurred.
“It sounds like a miracle … To even think that a pregnancy could do something like that, it's just amazing and beautiful in its own way,” Entezam said. “I still am shocked that it even has happened, and I am blessed.”
Anticipating delivery
The couple met four years ago on a dating app. Entezam works in video production, and Rondinella worked as a bartender and server before taking a step back to focus on the pregnancy.
Mother’s Day will be full of anticipation this year. They plan to spend Sunday with their dog, Edgar Allen Pug, giving him plenty of cuddles and attention before heading to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville on Monday.
There, a team of specialists will help Rondinella deliver Farrah Irene.
The name Farrah — a tribute to Entezam’s Middle Eastern roots — means joy and happiness.
“I think that kind of just falls in line with what we expect from this pregnancy. So it's just been nothing but that since then,” he said. “I think it's a perfect fit for her.”
The middle name Irene is after Rondinella’s great-grandmother, who played a big role in her childhood.
By the end of the week, they plan to bring Farrah Irene home to a Winnie the Pooh-themed nursery. Edgar Allen Pug will be ready to meet her, too.
“It's been nothing but heartwarming and just an awesome experience to just find out that one, that she's going to be super healthy, and that we've been able to kind of bond through this,” Entezam said. “But on top of that, Morgan's health has also just blossomed … it’s awesome.”
