Family rejoices in presence of baby

BOUNTIFUL — It's all about heart.

In the first instance, for some unknown reason, Kaidence Stephenson's tiny heart developed problems. In the second instance, it was the outpouring of hundreds — probably thousands — of heart-felt bits of service offered to the Mike and Shauntelle Stephenson family through months of an up-and-down fight to keep Kaidence alive. The baby's extraordinary treatment included use of an artificial left ventricle and, ultimately, a heart transplant.

Kaidence came home Jan. 10, and on the following Saturday the Stephensons enjoyed a belated Christmas, rejoicing in the presence of their baby.

"We had two Christmases," said 6-year-old brother McCaden, who enjoyed Santa's visit on the usual day. But it was the January celebration of the gift of Kaidence's life that was the more meaningful for the parents.

With the Christmas tree dominating their living room and boxes that had held toys still in evidence, Shauntelle recounted the events that eclipsed the Dec. 25 celebration this year.

Kaidence had seemed well since her birth on Feb. 23, 2007, but at the end of July, she began to show evidence that things were not right.

It wasn't anything the parents could put a finger on, but Shauntelle felt sure something serious had happened. "I've been told since that a mother's intuition is pure inspiration," she said.

That was the beginning of an odyssey that kept Kaidence in the hospital for 128 days in her first 11 months of life. Her extraordinary treatment included the first use in this area of a German-designed left-ventricular assist device in an infant. That was made possible by a special dispensation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which has not yet approved the Berlin heart for pediatric use in the United States.

"It's the smallest pump made," Shauntelle said. Mike easily cradles the device that saved his daughter's life in the palm of one hand. "It made an immediate difference in the quality of her life," she said. "She was ready when it came."

"It" was a donor heart that was transplanted into Kaidence's chest in mid-December. The availability of a donor heart in such a relatively short time was one of the string of miracles that preserved the baby's life, her parents say.