It's True What They Say

Before becoming a parent, I can't recall how many times someone has said, "They grow up too fast," or "I remember when you were just that small."  Well, they were right.  Today my little man is 15 days old and already he is getting so big.  Last week, he had grown 3/4 of an inch and gained 11oz.  Today (6 days later) he has grown another 1/4 inch but unfortunately lost 4oz.  I can't believe how fast he is growing.  Although, I did read that your child will grow 1/4 inch a week somewhere during the first year of their life.  I guess I just couldn't fathom that thought. 

I've had several inquires about his progress so I will start from the beginning and fill you all in and ask for your prayers that God will heal him on his own.  The Friday after we were discharged from the hospital we had a follow up appointment with the pediatrician to check on his jaundice that was so bad while he was in the hospital.  During that visit, the doctor told us she heard a heart murmur and referred us to see Dr. King, the pediatric cardiologist.  Usually, it can take many months to get into see him but fortunately we were able to get in the following week. We went ahead and got our chest x-rays and last Thursday made our way to his office.  During this time, we had countless people tell us that their child had a heart murmur and that everything was fine.  This is a true statement.  Even Dr. King said all babies have a heart murmur and on top of that there are over 1,000 different kinds of murmurs.  Therefore, you really have to know what you are looking out for.  During his visit, he had an Echo cardiogram and an EKG.  The nurse practitioner came in to listen to his pulses and get our general information and then Dr. King came into see us.  Let me say how impressed I was with him.  I had always heard great things but this man seriously is a genius.  He has invented 9 procedures for children and before the results had even come in from the Echo he had made the diagnosis based off of the x-ray and EKG. 

So here is Aiden's diagnosis.  Basically he has Congenital Heart Disease which means he was born with heart problems.  He has 3 things wrong with his heart.  1. PFO-this is an atrial septic defect in which there is an abnormal opening between the right and left atria. 2. Supervalvar Pulmonary Stenosis-this is a ventricular septal defect where there is a narrowing of the lower ventricle making blood flow difficult.  It is of some concern and they may have to put a balloon in it to open it up later.  We are watching it for now.  3. Ventricular Septal Defect (aka VSD). This is what concerns him the most.  There is a hole in his ventricle causing higher pressure in the left ventricle which causes a shunning of blood from the right side to the left.  Usually, if there is a hole it is okay.  However, his is 6mm which is very large.  A grown human would have a hole around 1.25mm.  So what do we do?  In his own words we give God a chance to fix it first.  Alot of times the hole will close on its own.  We do have 3 years to wait it out.  If it doesn't close then we will go in surgically and repair it.  This affects 1 in 1,000 babies and of these affected 1 in 100 have the ventricular defect rather than the aortic septal defect which is much more serious.

As of today, we had a 2 week appointment with Dr. Slusher and Aiden's breathing really concerned her.  We had a second chest x-ray which thankfully came back normal but he had lost 4 oz.  This is a major concern because babies that have VSD often can go into heart failure if they have trouble breathing and/or are not gaining weight.  When I heard this I became very panicked but heart failure in babies is not the same as in adults.  It is treatable with medication and goes away. We go back to the doctor in the morning and Aiden needs to have gained 1 ounce or we will have to consult with Dr. King about next steps.  We are hopeful for the best!  Please pray for us.