Hole in the heart

Phantomgirl

Hi ladies,

Have any of your children had a hole in the heart?

My BFF had her baby at 28 weeks, he was just 1lb.  He spent 3 months in the hospital and came home in January of this year.  He is growing and gaining weight and a true little fighter.  He is currently 6.5lbs.

She had to go back to hospital today as he has a hernia and needed surgery.  She just called to say that they are not going to do the surgery as the hole in his heart has gotton bigger.  This is a shock as even his doctor assumed it was fine as he is growing and gaining etc.  They are keeping him in for observation for a few days and may do the surgery over the weekend.  She seemed positive and at ease thank God.

I'm an emotional mess right now.  I can't stop crying at the thought of them back in hospital.  I'm so worried about both of them. 

What is a hole in the heart and how does it affect him?  I will google it but I know some of you guys will have experience from a premature perspective.

Over the course of the three months my bff emotionally ate and gained a lot of weight.  Currently she is struggling big time with self confidence etc.  I walk with her and have joined WW with her to try to help.  I dont care about the food or her weight but i'm worried about her emotional state and now this.  Any suggestions on how I can help or be a positive person?

Her partner is there with her and he will stay close to the hospital so she is not alone.

I sent her a long text this AM telling her I love her and so forth and she replied laughing and telling me I'm more emotional than her so maybe I just need to pull myself together!!! 

Any advice or information is welcome.

Thank you.

Mrs. Alice

Honestly without the medical term for what it is, we probably can't give you any specific anwsers about it.  One of my twins had a patent ductus arterious in the NICU.  They gave him some medicine and it closed smaller but he still has a heart murmur.  We also found out when we followed up with the cardiologist that he has another very small whole between the chambers of his heart, called a atrial septal defect.  He is a very normal happy healthy baby and we were told that it is fairly benign and will likely close on it's own without intervention.  He just has it checked every 6 months at the cardiologist.  Best wishes to your friend and her son.

Floridamom224

We just found out today that DD has one.  She will have to follow up consistently to make sure it is closing on its own, but for now there are no other issues related to it.

DenaRenee78

My son had the hole in his heart too. It was an easy fix with surgery. Its very common in preemies. They fixed his through the vein in  his leg. My son was wiggling all over in the bed the same day they did it. It didn't seem to faze him!

My son is now 8 yrs old and you would never know he was only 2lbs when he was born! He also had the hernia's too .. and reflux issues.. but no lasting effects from any of it. Tell her to hang in there!