Just like the pulmonologist suggested, I took my baby Katea to the cardiologist. Even though she's been doing so good not needing oxygen.....I still wanted to take her to check, and make sure her heart was ok. I've been worrying about it since I was told that her EKG showed that part of her heart was enlarged. I needed the peace of mind that she was ok and that it wasn't a big deal.
They gave me the option to go to the Primary Children's branch at Riverton hospital, and I jumped at the opportunity.....I've always had to go up to the one by the U, but the Riverton hospital is just down the street from my house, it was nice not to have to leave an hour early! Can I just say that I love that hospital. It was clean, fast, decorated so cute....and there weren't tons of people waiting around. We walked in, signed in, and were called back right away! Great service!
First they had me strip her down to a clean dry diaper because they needed to get her height and weight. She now weighs 15lbs8oz and is 26 inches long! She's a little chunk and is growing so well! After they got her measurements, they sent us into the room to do an EKG. They laid her on the table and hooked all these wires up to her so they could test the rythem of her heart. She's older now, and really grabby...so she kept pulling all the wires off and the test kept showing incomplete....the tech was getting really irritated...LOL...I tried to hold her little hands down and keep her distracted, at least long enough for the test to work. When the tech finally got the information she needed, she left and told me the nurse would be in to do the echocardiogram. We waited maybe 5 minutes and the nurse came right in! Love that we didn't have to wait around for our turn, we were just in and out really quick! :)
The echocardiogram took a little bit longer than the EKG did. The nurse kept going over one certain spot on baby's chest....I kept asking her what she was seeing, but she couldn't tell me. All she would say is that as soon as the test was done, the doctor would go over them and come and let me know the results. I was worried.
When the echo was finally done, we went into another room to wait for the doctor to come in with the results.....when he finally came in, he immediately started asking me about baby Katea's history....he told me that everything on the EKG and the echo looked "fine".....but I didn't like that word or how he said it, I wanted to hear the word normal, or good. I felt like he had something to tell me, but he just wasn't spitting it out.....after more prauding and asking a million questions, he came to the table and drew these pictures on the paper that was covering the table....
They gave me the option to go to the Primary Children's branch at Riverton hospital, and I jumped at the opportunity.....I've always had to go up to the one by the U, but the Riverton hospital is just down the street from my house, it was nice not to have to leave an hour early! Can I just say that I love that hospital. It was clean, fast, decorated so cute....and there weren't tons of people waiting around. We walked in, signed in, and were called back right away! Great service!
First they had me strip her down to a clean dry diaper because they needed to get her height and weight. She now weighs 15lbs8oz and is 26 inches long! She's a little chunk and is growing so well! After they got her measurements, they sent us into the room to do an EKG. They laid her on the table and hooked all these wires up to her so they could test the rythem of her heart. She's older now, and really grabby...so she kept pulling all the wires off and the test kept showing incomplete....the tech was getting really irritated...LOL...I tried to hold her little hands down and keep her distracted, at least long enough for the test to work. When the tech finally got the information she needed, she left and told me the nurse would be in to do the echocardiogram. We waited maybe 5 minutes and the nurse came right in! Love that we didn't have to wait around for our turn, we were just in and out really quick! :)
When the echo was finally done, we went into another room to wait for the doctor to come in with the results.....when he finally came in, he immediately started asking me about baby Katea's history....he told me that everything on the EKG and the echo looked "fine".....but I didn't like that word or how he said it, I wanted to hear the word normal, or good. I felt like he had something to tell me, but he just wasn't spitting it out.....after more prauding and asking a million questions, he came to the table and drew these pictures on the paper that was covering the table....
This picture is showing me that her PFO is still open
These pictures he drew were showing the right and left ventricle...
The picture on the left is how it should look, and the picture on the right is how hers does look....
The part that combines the ventricles on baby Katea is straight instead of curved like it should be, and her right ventricle is enlarged.
And he said she has mild pulmonary hypertension...
He went on to tell me that he was not worried about it and that I shouldn't worry about it either....but being told that part of my baby's heart is enlarged, and there's a hole in her heart that is not closed yet....how could I not worry? I asked him a lot of questions, including whether these symptoms could lead to heart issues in her later life....he couldn't answer that question, he said it's possible....but it's also possible that it doesn't affect her at all. Great one.
I actually was really worried about it.....
I posted this on my facebook page and got a bunch of comments back from several different people saying they're praying for her, and they hope she gets better soon. We've got an incredibly amazing support system and I'm so grateful for all the love! The comment that I appreciated the most was from on of baby Katea's NICU mommies, Meredith....she said "Umm the only diagnosis you should be concerning yourself with is how adorable she is" that actually made me feel a ton better, because she's a nurse, she knows what all those things meant....and for her to say I didn't need to worry about any of them, it eased my mind a lot! :)
So here we are, almost 9 months old.....not needing oxygen (but not officially off of it until the pediatrician says so).....yesterday would have made 2 full weeks without the need for it. A few days ago when I got home from zumba early in the morning, she was desatting and not recovering....I had to pull out the oxygen and give her some for a couple hours. I was pretty bummed about it, but then when I was changing her clothes that night to put her pajamas on, she grabbed my finger and bit it. Two teeth! She has two little teeth breaking through on the bottom....and we had no idea at all! No fever and not fussy at all! I'll take needing a little oxygen for a couple hours over her getting sick anyday!
She's amazing. She's such a trooper. She's my miracle baby girl!
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