CHANDLER (KYTX) - It's a modern medical marvel. An East Texas woman survives a highly rare pacemaker replacement while pregnant.
Cristy Meredith had no choice, since her pregnancy could have been even more dangerous without the surgery - but both mother and baby are doing well.
Children who once had small chances of making it into adulthood because of their heart problems, are now thriving, and having children of their own.
"I have a 3rd degree heart block," 24-year-old Meredith says.
Cristy is from Chandler and was diagnosed with that heart block when she was just 9 years old.
"It basically means my heart beats slower than normal and my lower part of my heart doesn't work at all," she says.
When she was 16 her condition was bad enough that she had to get a pacemaker.
"Definitely life changing," Cristy says with a smile.
In February, Cristy and her fiance J.D. Smith found out they were going to have a baby.
"It's going to be a boy!"
Amid the excitement, came less pleasant news. Cristy found out that she needed a new pacemaker, or the battery in hers could run out while she was pregnant.
"I kept hitting the 6 months from now, 6 months from now, and finally when we get the news that we're pregnant, that 6 months is up."
Doctors say changing a pacemaker while a woman is pregnant, is highly rare, but Cristy's doctor from Medical City Children's Hospital in Dallas put in her first pacemaker, and agreed to put in her second - even though she was pregnant.
The surgery was a success and Cristy's story has become an inspiration to others living with severe heart conditions.
Cristy says, "I never thought I would be someone to inspire others, to be like, 'Oh just because you have a pacemaker doesn't mean you can't do anything.' I mean, you can have a normal adult life having a pacemaker."
Now she has faith, that anything is possible. That's because of advanced modern technology, that people like Cristy are alive, and able to sustain a pregnancy.
Cristy and J.D. are expecting a healthy little boy in mid October. She will deliver her baby in Tyler at Mother Frances Hospital, with a team of cardiologists nearby.
