I think I will have to force myself to find time for a post a day to recount all the craziness and moments of the last few days before they become distant memories. I know I need to share the birth story; my adventures in breastfeeding and pumping; life with twins; surviving the first 24 hours at home; ... and much more I'm sure- as things develop.
I think the most important thing for me to blog about right now is some news we were given a day into our hospital stay. It appears Anna has a heart murmur. She was given an EKG to determine what type. I guess PDA heart murmurs are pretty common and resolve themselves. Obviously we were hoping for a PDA. Unfortunately, Anna does not have a PDA- she has a VSD heart murmur. VSD stands for ventricular septal defect. A ventricular septal defect is a defect in the ventricular septum, the wall dividing the left and right ventricles of the heart. It is a congenital heart defect and has nothing to do with her small size at birth. It was not detected during the perinatologist's u/s because she was not using her lungs in the womb so the blood flow through the chambers was reduced- making it not possible to see before birth.
We were referred to a pediatric cardiologist that will see Anna in 2-3 weeks. Then we will be able to find out if it is a small hole (which often close on their own as the heart grows) or larger (which might require surgical intervention, medicine, and I don't know what other possibilities). We won't know more until then. In the meantime, we were told it is not affecting her and there is nothing serious that we need to look for.
Please keep our little peanut Annabel in your prayers. Please pray that it is a very small VSD and send healing thoughts her way.
21 comments:
:( I am praying for little Anna. VSD murmurs can heal themselves if they are small... She's a little miracle and I know that she will be ok...
We are praying for you guys!!!!
Tiffany
I am thinking of you all. From what I have heard VSD's heal themselves... Your lil girl is a sweetheart and I am praying for her! (HUGS)
Definitely praying that this is something that will resolve itself!
Thank you for the update...you enjoy those babies!!! :o)
You will be in my thoughts & prayers.
That's scary news to get. I'm praying for the best possible scenario for baby Annabel, and for you guys as you wait to find out what you're dealing with.
I'll be keeping little Anna in my thoughts and prayers. I can't imagine how scary a diagnosis like this must be for you.
I'm grateful they found it so soon. Murmurs can go undetected for years. A friends husband wasn't diagnosed until he was in his 30s.
I was born "blue". Holes in my heart and diagnosed with Ebstein's anomoly. It's CHD (congenital heart defect). The holes in my heart eventually closed with age. I think within the first year. I had really great care. Even though I still have a leaky valvle, I've avoided surgery so far (I'm 32). I've lived a very normal life and had a healthy pregnancy and delivery.
Have faith in your doctors. Educate yourself as much as possible. It's amazing what pediatric cardiologists can do these days.
Oh my! You all are in my prayers. I had a heart murmur when I was younger (I assume it was a PDA but I don't know) and it resolved itself over time. You are very lucky to have doctors that found it so early on so you can take care of it right away..
Goodness gracious. Poor little baby. Glad they were able to detect it now and hopefully it is something that will resolve on its own. I'll be praying hard for your sweet babies.
Will be praying for sweet Anna
I will definitely keep Anna in my prayers. How scary. Please keep us posted.
Love the pictures!! They are sooo precious!!
I've had a murmur all my life (mitral valve prolapse) with no problems, though that's a different kettle of fish to the VSD. I'm just happy to hear that they picked it up and have diagnosed what it is, and will be doing the appropriate monitoring. I think sometimes if it's big enough to need closure later on (or doesn't close on its own, which is common), they may even be able to close it off without surgery, just using a catheter to fix it. Will be hoping for good news from your cardiology visit!
Have faith! If it gives you comfort, I was born with a VSD that was detected around 6 weeks. Mine was about the size of a quarter and had to be repaired 1 day before I was 2 months old. I had another heart surgery at 7 years old (completely unrelated to the VSD), am now 26, and gave birth to our first child 9 weeks ago. I had no complications with pregnancy and was in great shape before and all throughout my pregnancy.
I'm sure it's worrisome with it being your child, but I know medicine has come a long way in 26 years! Hope this helps comfort you and your little one does well! Praying for you all!
Dear Katie, I'm sending every positive thought and ounce of energy I have towards Annabel. With so many people praying and thinking about you all, she'll be okay.
Enjoy your little miracles. They're adorable!
I was just checking on your comments and it is so good to see comments from bloggers who have been through it. It is so difficult when your own miracle child has to go through this... But I am hoping and praying that medicine has truly advanced from what it was a few decades ago (as these gals have mentioned) - and the miracle of science which has helped us reach this far will be at your side to heal sweet Anna through this!
Praying for all of you, especially sweet Anna! :-)
Sending thoughts and prayers.
Praying for little Anna and her heart. I hope everything is just fine. She is such a little cutie. Isn't it crazy that at 5 lbs. preemie clothes are still a little big? Took Lexi awhile to fit into them :) Love your family!
If the oodles of related comments are any indication, she's going to be a-okay. Hoping you get great news about her prognosis.
Praying for Annabel.
I hope otherwise that things are going well. :)
Hi Katie, I'll be praying for little Anna and her heart. Know I'm thinking of you and Jake and your sweet babies always!
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