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3rd Trimester
Denial...not just a river in Egypt
I have been avoiding this for almost 3 weeks now because I just haven't wanted to think about itand I still don't believe that this could be going on with my baby.
I had my 3 hour glucose test on May 22 and the doctor wanted to do another scan, since I have had some bleeding issues, and I was stuck at the office anyways waiting for blood draws. While I was in the Ultrasound room, the tech was taking a really long time and snapped more pictures than when we found out that we were having a boy. My husband, who has 2 children from his first marriage, started asking a lot of questions and I was oblivious: the tech had turned on the 4-D real time and I was oohing and aahhing over my little man and his cuteness.
Later, when I got in with the doctor, they told me that they saw something that looked wrong with his heart. After that, I kind of blanked out and it was like listening to the teacher from Charlie Brown...you know: whah wa wa whah...
I was sent to another facility for a level 2 scan, where the doctor there said "yeah, we need to send you to talk to the fetal/pediatric cardio people with the children's hospital", so we went to that appointment. They spent an hour and a half scanning my little man and he was done. He was tired of being poked and prodded after 3 scans in 4 days. They still don't know if there is anything to be worried about, and I am scheduled for another scan in a couple of weeks to see what they see have to say about his heart issue. What I understand from what I have been told is that they are worried about his pulmonary artery and aorta being too narrow where they connect to the heart. I have heard the words "non-life threatening" and "treatable" about a million times, but those words really are not doing anything for my peace of mind.
I have gone over everything I have done during my pregnancy in my head: everything I have eaten, taken for headaches, gone back to look at what days I had taken my Xanax before I knew I was pregnant (it is an as needed medication) and I can't help but wonder if I did something to cause this. My husband keeps telling me no, but I can't help but wonder...
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Re: Denial...not just a river in Egypt
I'm so sorry and wish you the best of luck. I hope things work out for you and your baby.
For the record- I seriously doubt you could have done anything to cause this. Sometimes things like this just happen
Sorry you and your DH are going through this. You sound just like my hubby when he first heard about our little girl's heart problem. He refused to believe it. After about 2 or 3 weeks, he finally admitted that he was afraid to bond because he was afraid of loosing her. At that time, her condition was serious enough that we were planning for open heart surgery within hours of her birth. His way of coping was to pray for a miracle. I don't know if that is something you believe in, but it certainly helped him deal with the situation. In fact, we believe it helped not only him, but also our little girl.
Since then, we've had a bunch of scans and meetings with the pediatric cardiologist. In our case, things have improved as she grew and her condition is no longer requiring immediate surgery. The cardiologist was shocked to see this positive progression, so don't rule out healing or a positive outcome yet.
I know that the doctors and others can say whatever they want about the situation, but when it's your baby, it's scary. And others are right, it doesn't sound like there is anything you did that caused this. I felt that same way since I was on a high dose of pain killers for cancer surgery when I found out I was already 9 weeks pregnant. But I've had to come to terms with the fact that these things just happen sometimes.
If you are looking for a place to find other moms that understand, there is a group on babycenter that is only for moms with heart babies.
https://community.babycenter.com/groups/a5055/babies_and_children_with_heart_problems
I'm so sorry to hear that you're going through this. I can't even imagine what you're feeling...
And I sincerely doubt there was anything you could've done to cause it or prevent it. Unfortunately, these sorts of things just happen beyond our control. I know it's real easy for me to tell you there's nothing to beat yourself up over, but in this case, it's probably true. And like you said, they don't know anything for certain yet. I hope your next scan eases your worries, whether it turns out to be nothing at all, or if it turns out something is up with his heart, that it truly is treatable and not life-threatening. Keep us posted!
Hi. I'm sorry you are having to go through this. I'm expecting a baby with a heart condition as well, so I know very well what you are going through.
Yes, if the pulmonary artery and aorta are narrowed, this can be a problem that may require immediate repair right after birth or soon thereafter. they would most likely (I could be wrong) go in with a catheter through the leg and blow a little balloon into the arteries to dilate them to the right size.
At 20-22 weeks when I found out about my baby's heart defects, they were concerned about the pulmonary artery being narrower than it should be, and since then, it has grown normally and it is not longer a concern... so there is a good chance that it may grow bigger by delivery date.
Whichever way, you must be proactive and start asking questions. You want to make sure that the hospital you are due to deliver at can handle such a condition and that your baby is getting the best care she can get. In my case, I had to switch hospitals and OB practices because they were not equipped to handle his condition.
In my baby's case, he has 4 holes in his heart and a leaky valve... so to put it into perspective, 2 narrowed arteries is not one of the most serious defects out there. They may be able to treat without a full blown open heart surgery, which is what my baby will need.
Good luck with everything.
5 DIUI - BFN
IVF#1 - BFP - AJ 7/12
FET#1 - BFP Due 7/24/14