Family seeks prayers for Pennsville infant

PENNSVILLE TWP. - For some people, the power of prayer can get them through any obstacle. For one Pennsville family, they're asking for prayers to help their seriously ill newborn child.

Jonathan and Jeanette Paredes of Pennsville welcomed their son Mateo Sebastian to the world on Oct. 5 and their lives have been one big rollercoaster ride ever since.

When Jeanette was roughly 6 months pregnant, she found out her unborn son had hypoplastic left heart syndrome. This is a rare disease that 1 in 10,000 children are born with. It basically means that Mateo was born with half a heart.

According to his grandmother Carol Zitkevitz, babies born with HLHS need a series of surgeries. The first surgery is done when the baby is 3-5 days old. Mateo had this surgery on Oct. 8. The second surgery is done when the baby is 6 months old, this will be April for Mateo. The third and final surgery is done when the baby is 2 to 3 years old. He is currently at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

"The only good thing is that he is a nice big baby, but he is in bad shape," said Zitkevitz. Mateo was born at 10 pounds, 5 ounces.

Mateo was almost fully recovered from his first surgery when his heart stopped beating on Oct. 14. The nurses saved him using CPR, but three days later he began having seizures due to fluid in his body and lungs. Doctors told them he would have a 50/50 chance of pulling through. They won't give up hope though.

"We feel prayer will help us get through this," said Zitkevitz on Friday.

Jeanette said she is so grateful for everything people have done thus far. She had made a video of her son and put it on YouTube for others to see. Churches have asked to play the video in church just to make people more aware of their situation.

"We were told about a girl who had the same surgeries 20 years ago and she just had her first baby so we know that the long-term diagnosis is good," said Zitkevitz.

On Friday, the family received some good news that gives them even more hope. After 16 days of being on life support, they were able to take Mateo off and now through a ventilation system he can breathe through his own lungs.

"This is a huge step in the right direction. We still have a long way though," said Jeanette.

Eventually Mateo will need a pacemaker which will be put in once he is able to go home.

The family isn't asking for anything from anyone, they just want everyone to put Mateo in their prayers.

"We are just so grateful for everyone that has prayed. We truly feel the power of prayer will help get us through this," said Jeanette.