By Gary Lloyd
BIRMINGHAM — A Trussville husband and wife who shared its pregnancy journey with UAB are now parents.
Crystal and James Burford shared their story about Jeremiah James (J.J.) Burford, their son who was born Wednesday, April 8. He weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces and was 21.5 inches long.
J.J. has hypoplastic left heart syndrome, which means the left side of the baby’s heart can’t pump oxygen-rich blood to the body properly.
The oxygen-rich blood bypasses the poorly functioning left side of the heart during the first few days of life. The right side of the heart then pumps blood to both the lungs and the rest of the body.
However, among babies with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, one of these openings closes in the first couple days of life and prevents blood flow from reaching the body. This results in critical illness and even death in some instances.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.
