{"id":2989,"date":"2021-02-16T15:38:14","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T20:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=2989"},"modified":"2021-02-17T14:33:47","modified_gmt":"2021-02-17T19:33:47","slug":"natalie-holst-a-lucky-mother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=2989","title":{"rendered":"Natalie Holst: A Lucky Mother"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jason Klaiber<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a first-time mother, Natalie Holst recalled being nervous but ready for the delivery of her baby boy.<\/p>\n

Looking back, the sonograms had depicted nothing but satisfactory results and no complications were expected, save for Natalie\u2019s bout of high blood pressure toward the end of her pregnancy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought he was gonna be all healthy,\u201d she said. \u201cWe really had no idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though he was born right on time, the son of Natalie and Harley Holst had clear difficulties that late morning of April 22, 2010. Testing later revealed it was truncas arteriosus, a congenital heart defect.<\/p>\n

The couple\u2019s newborn son, named David, had to be transported from Oswego Hospital to Crouse the next morning. Within the following two days, he was transferred to Strong Memorial in Rochester for a roughly 10-hour surgery.<\/p>\n

David\u2019s stay was spent at first in the intensive care unit before he was brought to a regular floor, while his parents stayed at the nearby Ronald McDonald House. He eventually went through more operations, including ones for his bilateral cleft lip and his throat. According to his mother, he would frequently aspirate and start changing colors because something was stuck in his airways.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
David Holst<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt was quite a whirlwind from the beginning,\u201d Natalie Holst said. \u201cBeing a new parent, it was a lot to take in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Natalie, who was 25 at the time, said she was thankful that her husband was by her side throughout those first weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely think that he was the calm to the storm,\u201d she said. \u201cHe was probably a lot stronger than I was. After just having a child too, your hormones are a little out of whack.\u201d<\/p>\n

After David\u2019s recovery and discharge from Upstate Golisano in Syracuse, Natalie just wanted to avoid being around hand sanitizer for the foreseeable future, as the smell reminded her of a hospital room. She remembered feeling altogether scared yet also grateful that that her son didn\u2019t require a monitor to track his heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was amazing to finally bring him home after so long,\u201d Natalie said.<\/p>\n

More than a decade later, the family sees that David doesn\u2019t have quite as many limitations stemming from his heart troubles, so they stress the importance of letting him live his life while remaining attentive to any medical issues.<\/p>\n

When he starts outgrowing his artificial arch for example, he will eventually need another surgery, his mother said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not a lot of strain on the arch, so hopefully we\u2019ll be able to get through a few more years before that happens,\u201d Natalie said.<\/p>\n

As for now, though, his parents notice that he has to occasionally stop and rest while exercising and that he struggles to hold a pencil for extended periods of time, a result of arteries in his arms being \u201csacrificed\u201d to mend his heart soon after his birth.<\/p>\n

David attends speech therapy and occupational therapy sessions in addition to biannual meetings with a cardio doctor.<\/p>\n

Apart from the thought of regular medical appointments, Natalie Holst \u2014 who resides in Williamstown with her husband and child \u2014 considers her family \u201cextremely lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just important to remember that it\u2019s a blessing that you had the child and that they\u2019re living and breathing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Currently homeschooled while his mother works remotely for National Grid, David enjoys swimming, building with Legos and playing Minecraft on Xbox in his free time. At the moment, he hopes to either be a doctor or a dog walker when he grows up, Natalie said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe definitely will have a lot of opportunities in his life just based on him being so outgoing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

From kindergarten through fourth grade, David has also raised close to $20,000 to benefit the American Heart Association through the Jump Rope For Heart program. This earned him the opportunity to pie his physical education teacher in the face and the distinction of being the top fundraiser in Central New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m super proud of his accomplishments and the strengths he\u2019s had,\u201d his mother said.<\/p>\n

Natalie Holst said she still thinks often about the moment David was born and those ensuing few months.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe definitely has had to go through a lot of pain that even a lot of adults haven\u2019t had to go through, and he has always taken it with stride and come out and still been positive about things,\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019s quite the kid.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jason Klaiber As a first-time mother, Natalie Holst recalled being nervous but ready for the delivery of her baby boy. Looking back, the sonograms had depicted nothing but satisfactory results and no complications were expected, save for Natalie\u2019s bout of high blood pressure toward the end of her pregnancy. \u201cWe thought he was gonna…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1143],"tags":[531,1147,1146],"class_list":["post-2989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspire","tag-american-heart-association","tag-association","tag-natalie-holst"],"gutentor_comment":0,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Natalie-and-David-Holst-pic.jpg?fit=604%2C453&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":544,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=544","url_meta":{"origin":2989,"position":0},"title":"Natalie Clair Stetson","author":"Staff","date":"February 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Excitement in the Water By Kathryn Walsh | Photography by Alexis Emm\u00a0 Canals and New York state history aren\u2019t exactly at the forefront of the cultural zeitgeist these days. 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