Jimmy Kimmel, 49, and his wife Molly McNearney were thrilled to welcome their second child, William “Billy” Kimmel into the world on April 21. However, it turned out Billy had a problem with his heart, which led to him needing Open Heart Surgery.

Easy birth for Molly and Billy

Kimmel emotionally opened up about the story on Monday’s late night show, explaining that Billy took only “six pushes” and he was out.

At first he appeared to be a perfectly normal and healthy baby. Jimmy and Molly were then moved into a recovery room at Cedars-Sinai, where their two-year-old daughter Jane got to meet her new brother.

He went on to say they named him William, or rather Billy, after Kimmel’s TV partner Guillermo, the Spanish version of William.

Heart problems for Jimmy Kimmel’s baby boy

However, one of the nurses noticed that Billy had a heart murmur, which Kimmel said is relatively common in newborns, but also that his coloring was purple, meaning he wasn’t getting enough oxygen in his blood. This indicated something rather more serious was wrong with little Billy. Doctors first checked the baby’s lungs, which were clear, then realized his heart was the problem.

He then tearfully told the audience his tiny newborn son required open heart surgery.

The heart surgeon explained to Jimmy and Molly that Billy had been born with a congenital heart disease and that he also had a hole in the wall of both the left and right side of his tiny heart.

On the following Monday little Billy successfully underwent open heart surgery at the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles.

Kimmel added that he will need another surgery in around 3-6 months time, as well as a third “non-invasive” surgery when he is a little older.

He then showed before and after images of tiny Billy, the first with him strapped up with all kinds of tubes and the second with a cheesy grin on the baby’s face. Jimmy joked that the poor kid not going got a bad heart, but his face, too.

He went on to say that six days after Billy was born, he was able to leave the hospital in L.A. and go home with his family.

Emotional thanks to medical staff, family and friends from Jimmy Kimmel

Kimmel then went on to thank doctors, nurses, his friends and family for helping and standing with them during a rough time, listing the names of everyone involved at both hospitals. As noted by People, he then joked that even that “son-of-a-bitch Matt Damon” had sent flowers (referring to their long-standing mythical feud).

However Jimmy saved his most heartfelt thanks for his wife Molly, jokingly saying first for allowing him to have sex with her in the first place, but carrying on more seriously by thanking her for remaining so strong and level-headed throughout the birth and open heart surgery and for being such a loving and positive person during the worst experience a new mother could ever go through.

The late night host then said he couldn’t ask for a better partner in life and he is happy they had a new baby together, but he did go on to joke that he’s definitely getting a vasectomy after all this.

Enjoy the segment from "Jimmy Kimmel Live" below.
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