Erica Longobardi was halfway through her second pregnancy and excited to find out, at a routine ultrasound, if her 20-month-old daughter, Isabella, would get a little brother or a little sister. The 35-year-old East Northport, NY, resident never thought her new baby would be anything but healthy.

She was in for a shock. “They told me something was wrong with the baby’s heart,” said Erica. A fetal cardiologist explained that the baby had transposition of the great arteries (TGA). In fetuses with this rare, serious condition, the main pulmonary artery and the aorta are switched in position, which disrupts normal blood flow through the heart and lungs. Instead of low-oxygen blood moving from the heart through the aorta to the lungs to be oxygenated, it is instead pumped back through the rest of the body. As a result, babies with TGA are born with dangerously low oxygen levels. The only way they can survive is through a tricky surgical fix.

Erica understood how serious this was. “I knew that finding the correct surgeon with the correct team behind them would be key,” she said. After searching in New York City with no luck, she chose Cohen Children’s Medical Center, where she met with Anne Sweeney, RN, fetal cardiology nurse coordinator, and Ira Parness, MD, director of pediatric echocardiography. Next, pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon David Meyer, MD, explained the surgical procedure to fix TGA. “He made sure I understood everything about it,” Erica said. “My gut told me I’d found the right place.”

That place was Cohen Children’s Heart Center, where a wide range of specialists coordinate care for their little patients and their families. Erica’s care began well before the baby’s due date, seeing maternal-fetal specialists at the Katz Women’s Hospital at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, who carefully monitored the remainder of the pregnancy. Through it all, nurse coordinator Sweeney fielded Erica’s questions and helped navigate her through the experience. “I couldn’t have done it without her. She was my one-stop shop. I could just ask her pretty much anything.”

One week before her due date, Mia Grace Sparacino was born. The moment she arrived, an array of doctors and nurses were waiting. Erica saw Mia briefly before she was placed on oxygen and whisked to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Dr. Meyer explained that it would be best to let Mia get a little stronger before repairing her TGA. In the meantime, she underwent a balloon atrial septostomy, in which a tiny balloon was placed via a catheter into a naturally occurring hole in Mia’s heart. The procedure allowed enough oxygenated blood to circulate in Mia’s body until she had the TGA surgery.

Over the next week, Erica split her time between her home, with husband Danny and Isabella, and visiting Mia in the NICU. Finally, Mia’s cardiology team agreed it was time for her heart surgery. Dr. Meyer performed a procedure called an arterial switch, which involves dividing the aorta and the pulmonary artery, then reversing their attachments so that they are hooked up correctly. Mia also had an aortic coarctation, a narrowing of the aorta that blocks blood flow and sometimes occurs alongside TGA. Dr. Meyer corrected that problem at the same time.

The surgery was successful, and after a month in the NICU, Mia was able to come home. Her heart continues to function correctly, and she began receiving occupational, physical and speech therapy to ensure she reaches developmental milestones, which can be a side effect for children with heart conditions such as hers. “She’s doing phenomenally,” Erica said.

Erica brings her daughter to see Dr. Parness regularly for checkups, and each time she’s at the hospital, Dr. Meyer’s nurse, Martine, will track her down to say hello. “She’s the one who let us know Mia was out of surgery,” Erica explained. “Her friendly face makes me feel good inside.”

The Heart Center does so much more than care for babies and children on the day of serious surgery. Beyond the medical teams, there are also nutritionists and dietitians to help with feeding, pharmacists for medications and social workers who support families through an ordeal they didn’t expect. “They all work together, which really helps a mom and a dad who maybe can’t think clearly from one thing to the next,” Erica said.

Erica can’t help naming everyone who has made a difference in her family’s life. “Dr. Meyer and Martine, Dr. Parness, Anne … so many times they’d say to me, ‘It’s OK, Erica, just breathe. We got this.’ And they did. They still do.”