Echo at Sick Kids and First Visit to Mount Sinai
Well we had our appointments yesterday at Sick Kids and at the Special Pregnancy Program. We were late for our echo because the traffic was so bad. The drive took us about 1 hr 45 min last time and this time was almost 3 hrs. The results of the echo appear the same but they also noticed some leakage from a valve. Not a lot but some. We didn't spend a lot of time talking to the cardiologist this time (Dr. Golding) as we discussed the surgeries that would be needed last time. He has recommended the hybrid procedure over the Norwood. Of course there will be more detailed discussions after the baby is born and the problems can be identified 100% accurately after the baby's echo.
After that we met with a social worker. She showed us the ICU, the step down room and the private room. We did see some of the babies that were in these rooms but I tried not to take too close of a look at them. Mike found it very difficult to see the babies and know that our baby will be in there one day too. For me the hardest part was seeing the waiting room for surgeries. That room was huge and there were so many sad people in there just waiting to hear news about their children's surgeries. It was also very hard to hear that Maddison will not be able to meet the baby until he gets into a private room. She is so excited to have a brother, I don't know how we can explain all this to her. We will have to take a lot of videos and pictures for her to see. They do have a day care service at the hospital that is free so I guess that is where she will have to go when I am visiting. We are very lucky to have family nearby that have offered for us to stay with them. That will be one less thing to worry about.
We had our appointment at the Special Pregnancy Program (Mount Sinai) at 1 p.m. They asked a million questions that I've already answered a million times and then we had an ultrasound. After many hours and my husband complaining to the nurses, a doctor finally came to see us. For some reason he did another ultrasound himself. His name is Dr. Keunen. On top of the heart condition he does feel that the baby does have a small bell or pear-shaped chest. He is not sure what this will mean for the baby though. It will just be wait and see I guess. The baby is in a frank breech position right now and if he doesn't move into the head down position they can try to manually reposition him or do a c-section. Hopefully he moves on his own because I`ve heard that if the Dr`s try to move the baby it`s horribly painful and then if the baby shows signs of distress they do an emergency c-section anyway. I already know that I have a very low tolerance for pain so this is quite scary to me. Anyway, we finally got out of the Dr`s office at around 6 p.m. We took a wrong turn when we left and got lost...thank goodness for On Star because we could have been driving around for days trying to get back to the DVP. We have realized that it would be better to take the Go Train and the Subway from now on. The traffic is rediculous. I may ask one of our relatives who knows the area to show us the ropes when it comes to the TTC. Buses and subways are pretty overwhelming to someone from a small town. It seems like you could get off at the wrong place and be lost forever.
I go back to McMaster in 2 weeks and then Mount Sinai in 4 weeks. It will be nice not to have weekly appointments. I don't see what they accomplish anyway.
After the appointments yesterday the stress hit a new level for Mike and I. It is all becoming more real and not something that's going to happen in the far away distance anymore. It really is going to happen and we will need to face the fact that our baby will not be healthy and somehow get used to a different way of life. We can only hope for the best and hope that one day we will get to bring our baby home and he can have some sort of "normal" life. He has so many people that love him already and that are praying for him to come through this OK. I hope that our baby will be born big and strong and that through prayers and the expertise of the surgeons that our baby will pull through this and get to meet all of our loving and supportive family and friends.
After that we met with a social worker. She showed us the ICU, the step down room and the private room. We did see some of the babies that were in these rooms but I tried not to take too close of a look at them. Mike found it very difficult to see the babies and know that our baby will be in there one day too. For me the hardest part was seeing the waiting room for surgeries. That room was huge and there were so many sad people in there just waiting to hear news about their children's surgeries. It was also very hard to hear that Maddison will not be able to meet the baby until he gets into a private room. She is so excited to have a brother, I don't know how we can explain all this to her. We will have to take a lot of videos and pictures for her to see. They do have a day care service at the hospital that is free so I guess that is where she will have to go when I am visiting. We are very lucky to have family nearby that have offered for us to stay with them. That will be one less thing to worry about.
We had our appointment at the Special Pregnancy Program (Mount Sinai) at 1 p.m. They asked a million questions that I've already answered a million times and then we had an ultrasound. After many hours and my husband complaining to the nurses, a doctor finally came to see us. For some reason he did another ultrasound himself. His name is Dr. Keunen. On top of the heart condition he does feel that the baby does have a small bell or pear-shaped chest. He is not sure what this will mean for the baby though. It will just be wait and see I guess. The baby is in a frank breech position right now and if he doesn't move into the head down position they can try to manually reposition him or do a c-section. Hopefully he moves on his own because I`ve heard that if the Dr`s try to move the baby it`s horribly painful and then if the baby shows signs of distress they do an emergency c-section anyway. I already know that I have a very low tolerance for pain so this is quite scary to me. Anyway, we finally got out of the Dr`s office at around 6 p.m. We took a wrong turn when we left and got lost...thank goodness for On Star because we could have been driving around for days trying to get back to the DVP. We have realized that it would be better to take the Go Train and the Subway from now on. The traffic is rediculous. I may ask one of our relatives who knows the area to show us the ropes when it comes to the TTC. Buses and subways are pretty overwhelming to someone from a small town. It seems like you could get off at the wrong place and be lost forever.
I go back to McMaster in 2 weeks and then Mount Sinai in 4 weeks. It will be nice not to have weekly appointments. I don't see what they accomplish anyway.
After the appointments yesterday the stress hit a new level for Mike and I. It is all becoming more real and not something that's going to happen in the far away distance anymore. It really is going to happen and we will need to face the fact that our baby will not be healthy and somehow get used to a different way of life. We can only hope for the best and hope that one day we will get to bring our baby home and he can have some sort of "normal" life. He has so many people that love him already and that are praying for him to come through this OK. I hope that our baby will be born big and strong and that through prayers and the expertise of the surgeons that our baby will pull through this and get to meet all of our loving and supportive family and friends.
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