Jimmy Kimmel Reveals Newborn Son's Health Issues In Heartbreaking Monologue

On Monday night, late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel delivered a deeply personal opening monologue that left the audience and viewers at home in tears.

And these weren't tears from laughter.

With a shaky voice, the 49-year-old host of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" revealed his newborn son, William "Billy" Kimmel, who was born on April 21, had to undergo open heart surgery at just 3 days old.

Getting choked up right from the start, Kimmel addressed the audience,

I have a story to tell about something that happened to our family last week... before I go into it, I want you to know it has a happy ending.

He continued,

My wife, Molly, gave birth to a boy... his name is William John Kimmel... We call him Billy. It was an easy delivery, six pushes -- he was out, and he appeared to be a normal healthy baby until about three hours after he was born... A very attentive nurse at Cedars-Sinai hospital... was checking him out and heard a murmur, which is common with newborn babies, but she also noticed he was a bit purple, which is not common.

Jimmy then accompanied the nurse and baby down the hall where they ran some tests and that's when he started to get alarmed. He said,

It's a terrifying thing. My wife is back in the recovery room, she has no idea what's going on and I'm standing in the middle of a lot of very worried looking people -- kind of like right now -- who are trying to figure out what the problem is.

The doctors discovered Billy was born with a heart condition, "basically the pulmonary valve was completely blocked and he has a hole in the wall between the left and right sides of his heart."

Billy was then transported to Children's Hospital Los Angeles, where he underwent a surgery on the morning of Monday, April 24.

In what Jimmy called "the longest three hours of [his] life," doctors were able to repair one of the two defects of Billy's heart.

"The operation was a success," Jimmy shared with his studio audience, who roared with applause.

Billy will have to have another surgery in three to six months and a third surgery, hopefully non-invasive, when he's a bit older.

"Poor kid, not only did he get a bad heart, he got my face," Jimmy joked, in one of the lighter parts of the speech.

Billy was able to come home at 6 days old and is now doing just fine.

Taking out a piece of paper full of names, Jimmy thanked all of the nurses and doctors involved with his son's care, as well as his family, friends and "even that son of a bitch Matt Damon" who sent flowers.

Finally, he said,

Most of all, I want to thank my wife Molly. First of all, for allowing me to have sex with her in the first place... but also for being so strong and level-headed and positive and loving during the worst nightmare a new mother could experience. I couldn't ask for a better partner and I'm so happy we had this baby together. I'm definitely getting a vasectomy after this.

Jimmy and screenwriter Molly McNearney were married in 2013 and have a daughter together, 2-year-old Jane.

Jimmy also has two kids from his first marriage, Katie, 25, and Kevin, 23.

You can watch the whole 13-minute speech below, but I'm warning you, do it somewhere you can sob loudly.