echocardiogram

Today Ryan and I had our first fetal echocardiogram to get a closer look at Junior's heart and what he'll be needing. We found out there are 3 things wrong 2 of which will need surgery the 3rd will just be watched closely and hopefully heal itself.

Problem 1:

The first thing wrong is the hole in his heart. The hole is called a VSD and it connects the two lower chambers of the heart. Right now blood is flowing directly through the hole and not going out to the lungs and then back into the heart. Thats ok while he is in my cute little tummy since I am filling his body with plenty of oxygen rich blood. This problem will be fixed with a patch after birth. 

Problem 2: 

The second problem that will also be fixed with a patch after birth is his aortic arch is too narrow to allow enough blood to flow through. This will be fixed at the same time as the VSD during the same surgery. They will fix this with a patch as well. The aortic arch might shrink up again during Jr.'s life but if that happens they will just go in through the Cath lab and put a balloon in there. Nothing drastic like open heart surgery. 

Problem 3:

Sorry no picture but if you look at the above picture you can see what I'm talking about. Jr.s Aorta is too small right now. That is due to the fact that it doesn't have to do much work since the hole in the heart is letting blood pass through directly to the other chambers. The aorta is the tub in the middle that is at an angle. (not going straight up) Anywho the doctors will just keep watching that to see if it is just a slow grower. No surgery is planned on.

We learned that I will be delivering at the U of U hospital and that Junior will be whisked away through a window in the delivery room straight over to Primary Children's Hospital. This will be quite the emotional moment for me. Giving birth and then saying goodbye all in one. He will be immediately placed on medication to keep his "mommy tube" (the tube in his heart that is receiving my oxygen rich blood) open and working. Normally as soon as baby takes a breath that tube closes and disappears. They will keep that open so he will be stronger for surgery. They will perform the surgery as soon as 2 days after birth but no longer then a week after birth. Junior will stay at the ICU until he is fully recovered (about 4 weeks old) then we'll be all ok to take him home and even move with him to graduate school in September.

The good news is that after this first open heart surgery Junior should live a completely normal healthy life with no side effects. The bad news is he will be staying at the hospital for an extended amount of time. 

The good definitely outweighs the bad and I'm grateful that I have several months to prepare myself for leaving my baby at the hospital. I am so grateful for modern technology that will be saving my baby's life.  Junior is a healthy growing baby and is perfectly safe for the time being. We are so lucky to have him and we are so excited to meet him.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and words of encouragement. 

Baby Update

Just a quick update on Junior. He is 22 weeks and kicking.

We went to the Echo on Tuesday March 12th at a very early 8am only to be told that we were scheduled for next Tuesday. Needless to say I was very mad about this. Its not easy to take a day off as a teacher and the frustrating thing was it was their mistake yet I had to deal with it. They told me on the phone March 12th. I know this because I wrote it down while on the phone knowing full well my brain is not as trustworthy as it used to be. ANYWHO we will visit with the echo cardiologist this coming Tuesday to learn more about what Junior is dealing with.

Good news: Ryan felt baby kick several times now. I was told it would be awhile until Ryan would be able to feel the kicks but we've got a strong baby. Ryan is sure its his cycling legs. Junior is getting stronger and stronger each night as I read in bed I feel him kicking. It amazes me how fast he grows within a week it was noticeable stronger kicking.

More good news: Ryan got in to Tufts University in Boston. He's now got a tough decision on his plate. Notre Dame vs. Tufts. As he has been explaining them to me I've come to understand how different yet equally good they both are. It'll be fun to see where we end up. Indiana or Boston.

Also Ryan landed a summer job at a golf course which he is over thrilled with. He is so excited to get free golf and get to work at his favorite hobby and get paid to do it. What a stud.

We will definitely be updating the blog again next week after the echocardiogram. So be on alert.