binkywood: Star of the Day: Scott Baio

Birthdate: September 22, 1961

Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York

Soundbyte: "I very rarely came across rude or disrespectful people. I don't know how I slipped by all of them, but I honestly can't think of one experience off the top of my head that was like that. I'm sure they're there, but I'd have to think really hard to recall them."

I've never really been a big Scott Baio fan. I mean, I don't hate the guy or anything, but I'm not starstruck over him. While I never watched Happy Days, I have seen a lot of Charles In Charge in my day. When Scott stepped in to the world of celebreality, however, I was completely hooked.

Last July, VH1 premiered Scott Baio is 45...and Single, a show that chronicled him reuniting with past girlfriends in order to figure out why he couldn't settle down with one woman. I didn't know about his reputation as a serial dater when we started watching it, nor was I expecting him to come off on the show quite as cockily as he did, but nonetheless I was a devout watcher. On the season finale, Scott's then-girlfriend, Renee Sloan, announced that she was pregnant seconds before the credits started rolling and Scott Baio is 45...and Pregnant was plugged.

A few weeks after their daughter, Bailey DeLuca was born, Scott and Renee got married. But the occasion was overshadowed by the phone call from their pediatrician the day after bringing Bailey home from the hospital: something was wrong. Tests run at the hospital had come back positive for a metabolic disorder known as glutaric acidemia type 1 (GA-1).

In an exclusive interview with Celebrity Baby Blog, Scott and Renee talked about that terrifying time in their lives. "We knew that it was the worst, of all the metabolic diseases, that this was the worst. We knew at that moment: This was serious," said Renee.

A specific test was ordered to determine if Bailey did indeed have the disorder, which can lead to seizures, swelling of the brain, coma and even death if not diagnosed and treated. Scott and Renee then had to wait an agonizing ten weeks to find out their newborn daughter's fate.

"It was the worst time in my life. I don't know how to explain that to you. I don't, other than, every breath that you take, every thought that you have, every moment that you're conscious, it's all you're thinking about," said Renee. "No matter what the conversation is about, what movie you're watching, what you're eating...this disease is the constant thought in your brain. It never leaves you. Ever. You can't breathe."

Scott would break down whenever he saw another baby, Renee said. "He's a first-time father. He didn't grow up with younger siblings. And it would just break him down...break us down. It was so tough to go through the holidays, our wedding...all the while knowing, our kid may die."

Finally, weeks later, some good news - Bailey tested negative for GA-1. She may be a carrier of the gene, which could be blamed for the first set of positive results. Of the experience, Scott said, "It was a horrible thing, but honestly, in a way I'm glad I went through it. Because this sort of thing puts everything else in perspective. Throughout the course of normal life, you forget what's important, and you just seem to lose track of things. I still am guilty of doing that. But every time I think about it, when I think about [Bailey] possibly being not well, I think 'Screw everything else.' Every night before I go to bed I thank God, I thank God almost every half-hour that she's okay."

[photos:google images/source]

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