Our little sweetheart's condition
Our baby girl has a congenital heart defect called Pulmonary Atresia with Ventricular Septal Defect. This link will take you to the Boston Children's Hospital page about Pulmonary Atresia. In layman's terms, this means that the valve that takes oxygen-poor blood from the heart to the lungs is absent or blocked, so there is no way for the blood to become oxygenated. The ventricular septal defect is a hole in the heart between the right and left ventricles. This is actually a good thing in our case because it has allowed all of the chambers of the heart to develop fairly normally.
There are some diagrams of normal hearts compared to the heart with pulmonary atresia with VSD. I will be induced at the University of Utah hospital on June 26th. We are anticipating an almost immediate catheterization surgery (they thread a tube through a vein or artery and in this case they will be using that to place dye for images) to find out the configuration of her pulmonary blood vessels. If things look good, we think she will have a shunt placed within 4-5 days of her birth and we will get to bring her home when she recovers from that. If that is the case, we will be looking at a full open-heart surgery repair when she is 4-5 months old. If she does not have a good configuration of pulmonary blood vessels, we are not really sure what the next steps will be.
This has been an emotional roller coaster to say the least. There are times when we are very hopeful that things will work out and there are times when we just feel overwhelmed and discouraged. We are of course hoping for the very best. I have to remind myself sometimes that, although vastly different from the normal pregnancies I have had in the past in many ways, there is one thing that really isn't that different. From day one in a pregnancy, you know that your baby's life is in the Lord's hands. Aside from basic prenatal care, there isn't a lot you can do to change your baby's health or determine whether he or she makes it safely into mortality. So, you do what you can and you let Heavenly Father do the rest according to His wisdom. That doesn't mean it isn't hard by any means. I think this has been the hardest thing I have ever had to face in my life. It has been soul-stretching and heart-wrenching and will probably continue to be for some time. But, despite that, we know that Heavenly Father loves us and our little girl and knows what is best for all of us.
Abby and Katelyn have been very excited about our new baby. We are all excited to meet this special little spirit and hope for the chance to get to know her.
We appreciate all the prayers and love and support of so many. Thank you for all you do!
There are some diagrams of normal hearts compared to the heart with pulmonary atresia with VSD. I will be induced at the University of Utah hospital on June 26th. We are anticipating an almost immediate catheterization surgery (they thread a tube through a vein or artery and in this case they will be using that to place dye for images) to find out the configuration of her pulmonary blood vessels. If things look good, we think she will have a shunt placed within 4-5 days of her birth and we will get to bring her home when she recovers from that. If that is the case, we will be looking at a full open-heart surgery repair when she is 4-5 months old. If she does not have a good configuration of pulmonary blood vessels, we are not really sure what the next steps will be.
This has been an emotional roller coaster to say the least. There are times when we are very hopeful that things will work out and there are times when we just feel overwhelmed and discouraged. We are of course hoping for the very best. I have to remind myself sometimes that, although vastly different from the normal pregnancies I have had in the past in many ways, there is one thing that really isn't that different. From day one in a pregnancy, you know that your baby's life is in the Lord's hands. Aside from basic prenatal care, there isn't a lot you can do to change your baby's health or determine whether he or she makes it safely into mortality. So, you do what you can and you let Heavenly Father do the rest according to His wisdom. That doesn't mean it isn't hard by any means. I think this has been the hardest thing I have ever had to face in my life. It has been soul-stretching and heart-wrenching and will probably continue to be for some time. But, despite that, we know that Heavenly Father loves us and our little girl and knows what is best for all of us.
Abby and Katelyn have been very excited about our new baby. We are all excited to meet this special little spirit and hope for the chance to get to know her.
We appreciate all the prayers and love and support of so many. Thank you for all you do!
I appreciate your demonstration of faith, Angie. It is a never-failing foundation to carry us through our most difficult times and is a power that can bring the help of heaven. A mother's, and father's, prayers for their children are heard. - Kay
ReplyDelete