It's hard to believe this healthy looking baby has anything wrong with her, but Rowan Grace Brian has heterotaxy, a heart defect.
 
"It's when the heart is reversed. It can be flip-flopped," says Mother Leslie Brian.
 
She's already had two surgeries. For her last one, she received a study medication derived from watermelon to help prevent pulmonary hypertension.
 
"That makes you feel that, hey, this is something more natural. It's something that's maybe a little bit better," says Father Barry Brian.
 
The study drug helps supplement the body with Citrulline, a chemical important in the production of nitric oxide.
 
"It helps control neurologic processes. It's very important in maintaining blood pressure, particularly in the lungs," says Pediatric Genetricist Dr. Marshall Summar.
 
Nitric oxide production relies on having enough citrulline in the body. But under stressful circumstances, like surgery, it comes up short.
 
"That bypass pump really stresses the arteries and blood vessels in the lung, and about a third of the children after their surgery will have a reaction to that when they come off the pump," says Summar.
 
As part of the study, the drug is given by IV for up to two days after surgery.
 
"We found that the patients who received the Citrulline had much lower rates of pulmonary hypertension than the group that just got the water," says Summar.
 
Because the current study is placebo-controlled, Rowan Grace's dad doesn't know if she got the actual drug.
 
"We really don't know if we had the Citrulline or not, but, but at any rate she did well through the whole process," says Barry.
 
Citrulline is derived from watermelon. It is purified in many steps before used as an intravenous drug.