The rest of the time, he was hospitalized, hooked to machines, heavily sedated and strapped down in his bedding. His tiny, deformed heart somehow continued to beat, even though it lay outside his chest, struggling to pump blood.
Doctors called his survival a miracle. Never before had a baby lived with his combination of heart defects: Not only was his heart growing outside his body, it had only one working ventricle.
But nearly three years after his dramatic birth in February 2009, Ryan behaves like other boys his age. His doctors put no limits on his life expectancy, and they say his survival offers unprecedented hope for other babies with serious defects.
"This definitely can be a game-changer," said Dr. Nina Deutsch, pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist at Children's National Medical Center in Washington and one of Ryan's doctors. "From the literature, there are no babies that survived this. Now, for families on the edge, who have been told it's completely hopeless and nothing can happen, they've been given the prospect of this one case that did go well.
"Before, it was, 'There's no chance for survival.' That's not the case any more."
During the hospital stays, Ryan's mother, Leighann Marquiss, 34, of Franklin Park, bonded with her son by singing to him, caressing his arms, holding his tiny fingers. When he opened his eyes, she leaned in, made eye contact and reassured him that Mommy was there.
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