Well, as we have discovered not all appointments give us good news. Like this last one. After the echo and the ultrasound Dr. Rice came in and informed us that was once again a little bit of backflow through Christian's Mitral valve. His aorta, while allowing some flow was very constricted and not well enough to support life. The left side of his heart was smaller yet and will continue to shrink until it's progress is stopped surgically. He is definitely going to begin the 3 surgery procedure a few days after birth to rebuild the aortic arch and descending aorta. That is so much for a little guy to go through. But we are all pulling for him and know at some point he will be a normal little boy.
Bryan left this morning for Montana to attend the ground school for the airlines he was hired by. He is due to be home on November 2nd. That is good because they are wanting to induce Nicole anywhere from November 4th to the 11th. Perfect timing.
Anyway, that is about it for now. I will post as things come up...
Grandma Whee
Baby Christian
Christian was born with two very rare congenital heart defects; Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) and Endocardial Fibroelastosis (EFE) He will require three (two down, one to go!) open-heart surgeries to sustain life. He is a miracle and a blessing. We are so greatful to have him here with us. Thank you for stopping in.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Sept. 7th doctor appointment
Well, we just never know what to expect when we go to the doctor. Usually bad news or even worse news. That was not the case Friday.
Thursday evening we headed north to Portland. A nice 3 and 1/2 hour drive. We got a hotel room and relaxed for the night. Friday morning we were at Doernbecher Children's Hospital for another huge round of tests, meetings, and stress.
Nicole had a fetal echo cardiogram first thing. Then Dr. Rice came in with this strange look on her face. Immediately we thought the worst. Then she says "We are a bit confused with Christian's heart. It is not doing anything that we expected." Again we thought the worst. She followed by saying that the mitral valve no longer had the backflow problem like it had every time previously. Now was the valve thickening and not allowing flow or was the valve strengthening and that was the reason for no backflow? She did not know and would not know until Christian is born. Another perplexing thing was that now the blood was going through the aorta pretty well where before it had not been flowing but just a trickle now and again. Very strange all around let me tell you! We met with the cardiac surgeon and he was very optimistic that Christian may not be as traumatised by surgery if his flow is improving and may even need less invasive procedures later on. Good news! So we left with our hearts being a little lighter.
Anyway, we did get some more cute 4-D pics of Christian but I do not have them in my possession yet. I will put some on when I do.
Thanks for checking in on Christian. It does look like he will be making his appearance in 6 to 8 weeks.
Grandma Whee
Thursday evening we headed north to Portland. A nice 3 and 1/2 hour drive. We got a hotel room and relaxed for the night. Friday morning we were at Doernbecher Children's Hospital for another huge round of tests, meetings, and stress.
Nicole had a fetal echo cardiogram first thing. Then Dr. Rice came in with this strange look on her face. Immediately we thought the worst. Then she says "We are a bit confused with Christian's heart. It is not doing anything that we expected." Again we thought the worst. She followed by saying that the mitral valve no longer had the backflow problem like it had every time previously. Now was the valve thickening and not allowing flow or was the valve strengthening and that was the reason for no backflow? She did not know and would not know until Christian is born. Another perplexing thing was that now the blood was going through the aorta pretty well where before it had not been flowing but just a trickle now and again. Very strange all around let me tell you! We met with the cardiac surgeon and he was very optimistic that Christian may not be as traumatised by surgery if his flow is improving and may even need less invasive procedures later on. Good news! So we left with our hearts being a little lighter.
Anyway, we did get some more cute 4-D pics of Christian but I do not have them in my possession yet. I will put some on when I do.
Thanks for checking in on Christian. It does look like he will be making his appearance in 6 to 8 weeks.
Grandma Whee
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)