Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Baby Update

About a month ago at my 20 week ultrasound the doctor saw something that he deemed slightly abnormal. He said that he thought that the babe's cardiac arteries appeared enlarged. Not much more was said as Chad and I weren't prepared for those results and didn't really have any questions.
We scheduled an appointment with a pediatric cardiologist at PCMC and spent the next four weeks wondering whether or not to be worried. I must admit that deep down both Chad and I felt like everything was okay, but still there was always a little bit of doubt and concern in the back of our minds.
Today was our appointment...our fetal echocardiogram. The ultrasound tech spent a good hour or so scanning the heart and taking billions of pictures...all of which looked like black and white blobs to me. After she finished we waited for the doctor to come in and give us the results. Another tense five minutes.
Finally, the doctor knocked on the door, and at first glance appeared happy and relaxed...a good sign. Turns out my intuition was right. He informed us that the ultrasound did not show anything abnormal and that everything looked just fine.
Funny how you don't know how worried you are until you find out that you have nothing to be worried about.
Chad and I were relieved.
Turns out that the pictures were so good that the doctor asked if he could use them for a reasearch project he was working on. So...my babies heart is, like, totally gonna be famous. In my proud state, I forgot to ask if using pics of my beautiful fetus meant our appointment was free.
The research project is for the development of software that will allow OB's to enter information collected from an ultrasound into a computer, which would then be able to evaluate it to decide whether or not the findings are, in fact, abnomal.
Pretty cool if you ask me.
I am so relieved that we were blessed with happy news. For a few weeks there, I did find myself wondering what life would be like with a sick baby. I realize that there are people out there who, sadly, aren't as lucky as we are to get such news. This thought was reinforced by the sight of all the little babies and children I saw wearing masks and being pulled around in wagons while waiting to see the doctor.
Not to be pushy, but be thankful for your health and your children's. Life and health are so fragile.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad all is well!!

Kim said...

That is good news! I hope everything continues to go well for you.

Ashlyn said...

I'm so glad your baby has a healthy heart! We were so worried but determined all would be well.

6deans said...

How scary for you these past few weeks...I am so glad things look good :)

Joosten said...

I am glad everything is OK. What a scary thing to have to go through! Good luck with the remainder of your pregnancy.

Unknown said...

excellent excellent. I am so happy to hear that. You and Chad make neat looking cool babies, so no worries!!!

brittanyc said...

What a relief!! I'm so glad to hear that! Isn't it funny how little reality checks like this give you such a new lease on life when you find out everything is gonna be okay? I have been there.
Britt

Kedra Simpson said...

yahoo, glad things are okay. I know how you feel...chad and I freaked a little thinking maybe there was something wrong with Nolan because of the spots in his brain.

I also enjoyed your prego post! I too have puked in the car on the way to work with no accidents!

Ashlyn said...
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