This blog has a purpose.

I started to write my post about my appointment on Friday, but I wanted to go back a bit and rewind.

Honey said to me the other day (as if this was a new idea), that we need to be journaling our experiences and keep track of Baby's progress through out this pregnancy. Of course I told him I already had that taken care of.

Honey and I have been through a lot in our 8 years of marriage and our years before that as singles. With that said, we have grown tremendous amounts, and God has blessed both of us with amazing spiritual gifts. We decided when Baby was diagnosed with HLHS, we were not going to allow that to hold us back. Baby is a huge blessing to us already, in so many ways, and we felt honored that God chose us to be his earthly parents.

With all that said, I am blogging our experiences through this pregnancy and will probably continue for a while after Baby is born. Our goal is that whoever reads this will be blessed in one way or another.

the burn

Well, the past week has been pretty uneventful as far as Baby is concerned. But, I figured I'd post something, just to let you all know I'm still here.

Baby has been kicking like crazy...to the point that he wakes me up at night.

So, I burned my belly last wednesday. I know that sounds really dumb. But the story gets worse...I was cooking ground meat to make sloppy joes for a picnic. I poured a little bit of water in the pan to let it simmer and forgot to turn down my burner. Needless to say, it splattered out and soaked through my shirt onto my skin and left a quarter-sized blister on my already sensitive belly. Ouch!!

On another note, we go back to Harrisburg on Friday to see the doctor. It is supposed to be just a simple routine check...but we'll see!

Because I know you're curious

I figured I should add a picture of me and Baby! Well, what you can see of baby so far...

This picture was taken at 21 weeks.

21 weeks...August 1, 2008

Honey & I were now on our way to meet with Baby's cardiologist.

I had an hour long ultrasound with an Echocardiogram. Dr. Robinson (the cardiologist) took pictures of every possible angle of Baby's heart, plus monitored blood flow and the heartbeat. When we arrived for our appointment, we were expecting to see Baby's heart with full sized right chambers and underdeveloped (small) left chambers that may or may not have blood flow. At the previous appointment the doctor and sonographer didn't take any measurements of Baby's heart...they weren't of significant size.

We spent the past week in prayer...and I mean PRAYER!
We had friends & family in PA, MD and NJ praying for Baby.

Anyway, my point is...DON'T STOP PRAYING...IT CHANGES THINGS!

After our ultrasound, we met with Dr. Robinson to discuss what he found. He was able to measure the left 2 chambers of the heart, and chart accurate blood flow. Baby's heart was fully functioning - properly! PRAISE GOD

The problem was that the left side still wasn't big enough to be sustainable after delivery. Baby would still need open heart surgery...but not immediately after he is born. I was now told I would be able to naturally deliver Baby in Harrisburg, but he would need to be transported to Dupont with in 4-6 hours to be prepped for surgery.

The FACTS:

*Baby was diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS)

* Harrisburg Hospital specializes in babies with Congenital Heart Disease, however only 1% of those cases are diagnosed with HLHS

* The left chambers of Baby's heart measured to 50% of the size of the right chambers!

Last week, they were too small to measure and didn't have adequate blood flow.

Floods of emotion

Pregnancy naturally involves so many quick changing waves of emotion.

Now throw in the news we just received about our tiny baby boy. I don't even think overwhelmed is the right word to describe how I was feeling. I cried the entire hour drive home from Harrisburg, and even cried part way through my lunch at Applebee's.

My afternoon consisted of more tears and lots of sleep. Was this a terrible dream? I forced my self to sleep, in hopes that when I woke up Honey would tell me this was a dream.

- It wasn't.

We were scheduled to see the Neonatal Cardiologist on Friday August 1st.

20 weeks..continued!

Wednesday July 23, we received a call from the OB stating that we would need to see a Neonatal Cardiologist. The Doctor and Radiologist found that Baby had a heart abnormality. The left two chambers of his heart were not visible on any of the ultrasound pictures.

We were then referred to a OB Specialist in Harrisburg, PA...and were to see them the next day.

I automatically assumed the worst, who wouldn't have.

I immediately thought back to early January when I miscarried, and had to have a D & E due to "absent cardiac activity".

Thursday July 24, 2008 we went to Harrisburg for our appointment with the specialist. We (I) endured 2 hours of ultrasounds with 2 doctors, 1 intern, 1 Cardiac Sonographer and a Ultrasound Technician.

Before going into this appointment, Honey & I prayed...for our own strength to endure whatever news we would get, and to show us a small miracle.

During the appointment, the doctors and techs were able to find the left chambers of Baby's heart. They were very small and there wasn't really any blood flowing through the left side...it was just there. Half way through the appointment we were given a break and Honey & I were left alone in the exam room. We prayed again, and prepared ourselves for the rest of the exam.
By the end of the ultrasound the Doctor was able to find the left side of Baby's heart, with proper blood flow. Baby's heart was functioning properly. It was our sign...our hope and encouragement!

The Doctor suggested that we come back in a week to speak to the Cardiologist to get an official diagnosis and discuss treatment options. When we left the appointment, we were told that I would have to deliver Baby at Dupont Children's Hospital, where he could be immediately prepped for Open Heart Surgery as soon as he was born. This condition was very severe and very rare, and only a few hospitals on the east coast perform the procedure that Baby would need.

20 weeks

July 22, 2008 we had an appointment for an ultrasound & anatomy scan.

It's A BoY!!

The beginning...

Welcome to my new Blog. I decided to start this blog to document the events of my current pregnancy. Please be patient while I update and add to the blog...