Infant Heart, the Size of a Walnut, Rebuilt and Running

Richard A. Jonas, in a four-hour operation at Children's National Medical Center, gave the baby a four-chambered heart in which the blood flows in the right direction. (Michael Robinson-chavez - The Washington Post)

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"I have to know what I'm going to see when I go in. If I have to consume time figuring out the anatomy -- trying to understand exactly what the child's anomaly is -- then that disrupts the whole operation."

Nothing like that happened with Zachary Davis. Zachary ended up with a normal appearing four-chambered heart in which the blood flows in the right direction.

"I was absolutely thrilled to see that the child did exceedingly well," Jonas said.

Away From Home

Last week, Jessica Davis cradled and nuzzled Zachary with confidence as her mother, Jenny Slover, 42, looked on. He looked like a normal baby except for the wires emerging from his pajamas to an EKG monitor and the blinking blood oxygen sensor clamped on one of his fingers.

But the entire family was restless, waiting for Zachary's feeding to reach the 2.5 ounces per session he needs to be discharged.

"I just want to take him home," Jessica said.

Jessica will live at home, and her mother will care for Zachary during the day. That was always the plan, even before the problems.

"We're looking forward to being able to say the journey's over," Slover said. "To get where we can walk through our door and say, we're home."

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