For those who were interested in my post last week about the u/s tech finding what she thought was an amniotic band here is what happened when we saw the perinatologist. We got some good news and some unexpected bad news...
I'll start with the good news. The u/s tech and Doc performed the u/s and did not see an amniotic band. I was quite concerned about this in particular after reading roxy's story the other day. It turns out it was not a band or membrane even though my ob used those words interchangeably. It is a completey benign synachiae that will have no effect on the baby. It is just a fold in th placenta that can look like a band on some ultrasound. DH and I were releived!
Bad news: Baby's heart is on th right side instead of the left and they don't know why. The short story is that he may need surgery to remove a mass in his chest either after birth or in utero. They are thinking it could be a mass on his lungs or a herniated diaphragm that let some bowel into the chest cavity but they really can't say until he grows for another 4 weeks. It was terifying seeing his heart on the wrong side and watching the Doc's face as he clearly was shocked himself. We cried all night and are feeling very scared. I am most likely going to have to deliver at a different hospital with a good NICU as the baby may not be able to breathe when he is born. The next 4 weeks are going to be torture. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks.
Re: f/u: visit with perinatologist about band and baby's heart
*hugs*
im sorry you are going thru this, you and your LO are in my prayers!
I send my prayers out to you and your family. Lets all think positive!
*hugs*
You and your family are in my thoughts.
Please try to stay positive. You are getting all the care that you can at this point and it sounds like while things are very scary, there are things that can be done to help him.
You may be better off at the hospital with the better NICU, and in a weird sort of way, it's good that you went to the ATU in the first place so that you can get the extra monitoring that you may need for your LO. I cannot imagine how hard it must be for you right now. I wish you a very short 4 weeks.
Can you go somewhere else to get another opinion or perhaps recommend another test/treatment that may eliminate some of your wait?
I am a big believer that everything happens for a reason. If the u/s tech hadn't referred you to the perinatologist you would never have known about the heart issue and wouldn't have had the critical treatment for your LO. So that is a good thing!!
At least they know of the issue and have plans to follow and treat it and put steps into place to handle it. Try not to stress out too much, your baby needs all the strength it can have right now so you need to make it your mission to give that to him/her. GL with everything!
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