Ok, well, maybe he did tell us about the other hole before, but Bob and I don't seem to remember, most likely because we were in such shock finding out about her overall condition. The baby not only has Ventricle Septal Defect (VSD-a hole between her ventricles), she also has Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) -- a hole between her atria. But, as Dr. Menon explained, she actually needs the ASD--it's the only way her blue, oxygen poor blood can mix with the oxygen rich blood.
In fact, the cardiac surgeon will assess her ASD and VSD, and possibly enlarge the holes during her surgery. It's all apart of the "re-piping" to turn her dual ventricle heart into a single ventricle heart.
As I was lying there, I was seriously regretting our decision for Bob to skip this appointment (he had a big meeting that would have been tough to get out of) -- I could tell the Tech was having a hard time getting the right images, and I wasn't sure why. I swear, it's just impossible to relax at any of these appointments; I still keep waiting for the other shoe to drop! But I later learned why she was having so much trouble -- not only is our girl on the move and not staying still long enough to get a good image, her bones are calcifying, making it even tougher to get good, clear images of her heart. That's one thing I really like about our Cardiologist, Dr. Menon, he put me right at ease as soon as he came in to do a few scans of his own. Rather than toiling and remaining quiet like the Tech did for 35 min (as I laid there, praying feverishly), he was immediately telling me why the images weren't coming as easily. I'm so glad we'll be able to keep him as our Cardiologist after she's here.
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