August 30th Update

August 30^th Update


Today I had an anatomy ultrasound done. Lenah is growing right on schedule and everything looks good besides her heart defect. Her weight is estimated at a smidge over 6lbs. She is also finally vertex/head-down, which tells me she is getting ready. She has been transverse or breech in all previous ultrasounds. It looks as though my c-section will be scheduled for September 23^rd. So her birthday will be exactly two weeks after her big sister Sofia's unless Lenah decides to make her own unscheduled appearance.
I had a cardiology consult with one of the pediatric cardiac surgeons last Tuesday. I have heard all good things about him from many different sources. I liked him. He seemed a bit like the engineer-minded type of person. I think that is probably a very good thing for a cardiac surgeon. He said that all of the information that they have gathered from the fetal echocardiograms is very helpful but there is so much that they don't know until Lenah is out and on her own and they see how she does on her own and get measurements from a transthoracic (chest) echocardiogram. He said that her particular presentation could actually need a less complicated surgery than the open-heart Norwood procedure to start with, but we will not know everything we need to know until she gets here.
I find myself being far more concerned about the logistics and planning care for my older children and balancing that with time at the hospital with Lenah than I am about the “scary” life and death decisions. I absolutely hate the idea of leaving my sweet little baby by herself for even a moment- it makes me quite nauseous to even think about it. I can't really even wrap my head around it all. I am having trouble sleeping and I feel like I will never get everything done that I feel needs to be done in the next three weeks. I desperately need peace in this storm. Once again, I covet your prayers. I am sure that it is in part due to the prayers of our loving friends and family that have helped to sustain us through this time. Thank you all once again.


Lenah's mommy- Edie

August 6th Update

Well, this update has taken me quite awhile to get together. While we were at our Dr. appointment on Tuesday the boys spilled a glass of water on my laptop and I have spent the rest of the week trying to get that taken care of. We had another fetal echo-cardiogram on Tuesday morning and a consult with the neonatal specialist in the afternoon. We had much better news this week than at our last appointment. Our cardiologist showed the images of our last echo-cardiogram to a few of her colleagues and they were also immediately concerned and noticed the leaking of the pulmonary valve right away. It was moderate and constant. Praise the Lord! He has heard our prayers,because at this last ultrasound, our doctor watched the pulmonary valve for a long time and only saw a very intermittent slight leakyness. She says that she has no explanation for this difference. She said that it is possible that the flow from the placenta was just too strong before for some reason, but she really just had no explanation for the difference. I said that I prefer to believe that God chose to intervene. So, at this time we are planning to have her delivered by c-section as close to 40 weeks gestation as possible – the longer her heart has time to grow- the better. She will have immediate intervention after birth to assist and prepare her for her first open heart surgery. We were very happy to learn that Texas Children's hospital has a very sibling friendly environment and all of the children will be able to spend time with Lenah in the NICU. They also have sibling classes to help them prepare and know what to expect when they come to visit.
At this time I feel much more hopeful than I did after our previous appointment. Between these two appointments I had a biophysical profile ultrasound and the doctor said that she saw fluid on the heart and lungs. This added to my concern for Lenah. No fluid was seen anywhere at our most recent appointment.
Also, I will begin seeing a new OB on August 22. I had chosen my current doctor because she is known as one of the only doctors in Houston that will allow a woman a trial of labor and VBAC after having more than one c-section. She is the chief of Obstetrics at Ben Taub Hospital and only attends deliveries there. I am changing doctors because I will need to be delivered at Texas Children's Hospital Women's Pavilion so Lenah will be on site for treatment. I am guessing they will schedule a c-section for the last week of September. I do not at all like the idea of having yet another c-section, but I know I need to do what is best for Lenah. I do concede that there are some advantages to scheduling everything so we can have childcare covered and all of that.
So, once again, thank you to all of you for your prayers. We most certainly appreciate them and you. Please continue to pray for Lenah and for us as we continue to plan for her arrival.