Howard Cohen - McClatchy Newspapers
The Toronto Star
MIAMI — America fell in love with Trine Engebretsen when she made headlines as the first Florida-born person to receive a liver transplant.
Barely 2-years-old in 1984, little Trine rode a wave of national affection when President Ronald Reagan mentioned her name during one of his radio addresses to spark interest in organ transplantation.
Now 30 and a medical student in the inaugural class at Florida International University’s Medical School, Engebretsen is ready to share another first.
She and husband Ryan Labbe, also 30, introduced their son, Andersen Thomas Labbe, born July 21, at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center Wednesday afternoon.
Most parents don’t net a news conference to announce a newborn but Engebretsen and Labbe, who live in Pembroke Pines, are not most couples.
Labbe, who works in computers, is also a liver transplant recipient.
Doctors believe Andersen is the first baby born to two liver transplant recipients.
“Sometimes it doesn’t hit me. I had to stop and go, ‘Oh, I’m a dad!’ It’s wonderful,” Labbe said, as the couple giggled. “There’s so much more to experience and every day it’s something new.” The newborn has entered into a large extended family. Engebretsen’s donor family sent “a huge box of stuff for the baby” and are considered grandparents by the couple, the new mother said.
Transplant surgeon Dr. Andreas G. Tzakis, a director of the Miami Transplant Institute at UM/Jackson, assisted his mentor, Dr. Thomas Starzl, in Engebretsen’s liver transplant in 1984 in Pittsburgh. He has been doctor and friend ever since.
“I’ll never forget how hard she kicked me every time I examined her,” Tzakis said, smiling at that ‘80s moment when the three made history. “I was blessed to see her grow.” Tzakis performed her husband’s liver transplant in Miami in May 2008. Seven months later, the couple married in Miami Beach.
Labbe, who had suffered with health problems throughout his childhood, met Engebretsen via a website, liverfamilies.net, that serves as an online forum. Online chatter developed into telephone calls. Three months later, Labbe flew from his Connecticut home to South Florida.
“I convinced him to come down here and visit me,” Engebretsen said.
The attraction was immediate.
“We already felt we had a connection and had a lot in common so it felt like a natural progression.” When Labbe returned to Connecticut, “I couldn’t stop thinking about her,” he said.
Around that time, his health began to decline. Born a malformation of the bile ducts, he turned jaundiced overnight.
“He called me and said, ‘I’m kind of yellow.’ That’s not good,” Engebretsen recalled. She flew up to see him.
She convinced him to move to South Florida to meet Dr. Tzakis.
Labbe was transplanted about seven months later.
Once wed, the couple discussed the opportune time to have a baby. Despite careful planning, nature ignored class schedules.
“I came in the living room and said, ‘We’re going to be parents.’ And, even though we talked about it and planned for it, I think Ryan was terrified.
His eyes were huge,” Engebretsen laughs.
There would be many more items to consider, beyond fitting pregnancy into Engebretsen’s schooling. Pregnancies for transplant recipients are considered high risk. Engebretsen worked with Dr. Salih Y. Yasin, director of obstetrics and patient safety at the Women’s Hospital Center at Jackson, who had experience in delivering babies from transplant patients.
Engebretsen was no longer on medications.
“She was just another pregnant lady having her first baby,” Yasin said.
She delivered Andersen, a 7-pound, 8-ounce boy, at Jackson.
Engebretsen planned well, devouring every obstetrics book she could find.
“We still don’t want to give the message that with liver transplant (patients) it’s an easy pregnancy,” Yasin said. “There are risks of infections and multiple complications.” Engebretsen tears up when she talks about why she wants to become an emergency room doctor upon graduation.
“I heard at the white coat ceremony at FIU’s inaugural class I’m making medical history twice. I guess, yeah, we’re doing that again. I like to show our donor families their generosity and trying to make the most of the gifts we’ve been given.” As for the baby’s name, “My family’s Norwegian and we wanted something that had Norwegian roots,” Engebretsen said. “Andersen is actually the Norwegian form of Andreas.”
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