Update on Brody

On Tuesday, we had another echocardiogram and saw Dr. Battiste (a pediatric cardiologist). We were very encouraged from the appointment. Dr. Battiste did not see any heart problems other than the Atrial Septal Defect. She told us that we will be able to deliver Brody in Wichita. She also said that after he is born that they will do another echocardiogram because it will make it much easier to see his heart than it is now. As long as the echocardiogram at birth doesn't show any other problems, he will not need to have the Atrial Septal Defect repaired until he is about 4 years old. She said that in very rare cases the hole will close itself or become small enough by that time to not need surgery. She told us that if the hole remains as it seems right now, he may need to have the more invasive surgery done in order to close it. However, she said it might be smaller than it looks right now (they will know more when he is born) and then the procedure they can do is not open heart. Regardless of which repair is needed, he should not need to have anything done until he is around 4 years old. In the meantime, we will just pray for the hole to get smaller each day.

Douglas Family Pictures - December 2010

Oakley Family Pictures - November 2010

10 more weeks

I am 29 weeks pregnant today, and my doctor plans to do my c-section about a week early, so only 10 more weeks until we get to meet Brody!
We had an appointment today with Dr. O'Hara. The sonogram showed him weighing about 3 pounds, 4 ounces. One of their concerns with his Atrial Septal Defect was that he might not grow as well as he is supposed to, but he is growing great! His heart is still looking the same as a month ago. The hole is a little bigger than it was last time but only because his heart has grown. The hole is 1.5 centimeters. O'Hara was very encouraging and has not seen anything else that causes concern.
She told us that the pediatric cardiologist would give us more information next week. We will see her on the 28th. The cardiologist is who will determine if we can deliver Brody here or if we have to go to Kansas City. When they do the surgery on his heart, it will be done in Kansas City. We just want to be wherever is best for Brody.
We did get more pictures of Brody today, but I haven't gotten them scanned in yet. Having all the pictures is one nice thing about needing the regular sonograms. :)

Kiddie Kandids

Brody's Heart

In the sonograms of Brody at 18 weeks and 23 weeks, the four chambers of his heart could not be clearly seen. So after the 23 weeks sonogram, Dr. Breit (my OB) sent us to Dr. O'Hara (a high-risk OB) to have a echocardiogram done. After the echocardiogram we got to meet with Dr. O'Hara to go over the results - I wish all doctor's office results were that quick. She asked right away if he had a name yet and called Brody by name as she talked with us - I loved that! She brought a laptop in with her and showed us pictures of his heart. She explained how the heart normally looks and showed us how his heart has a hole between the right and left atrium. The divider that you normally see there has a large hole in it; that is why the 4 separate chambers couldn't easily be seen in the sonograms. It is called Atrial Septal Defect. She showed us how there isn't really a separation in the blood between the top two parts of his heart. She told us how all babies have a small hole there where the blood flows until they start using their lungs and then it normally closes up or is small enough to not matter. She said that based on the size of the hole and the way blood pools instead of staying separated, they will need to do a surgery after he is born. The surgery will not need to happen immediately when he is born and is not as serious of a surgery as is required for many other heart defects. As far as heart defects go, this is a good one to have. We will see a pediatric cardiologist at the end of this month to look even closer at his heart and will find out more information.
We will continue seeing Dr. Breit like we normally would, but we will also see Dr. O'Hara once a month. Today is the first time we have seen Dr. Breit since seeing Dr. O'Hara, and I wanted to talk to her before posting this. She said most of the same things Dr. O'Hara said was very reassuring. We thank God for our wonderful baby boy and pray for him daily. Please pray that between now and when he is born the hole will become smaller and for us to know that God is in control in all situations. We already love our Brody so much!

Baby Waves

These are pictures of Brody at 26 weeks 4 days at Baby Waves. According to the sonogram he weighs about 2 lbs 3 oz. If he is average length, he is about 14.5 inches long; they can't really measure his length in the sonogram. It was great for Gran, Grandad, Grandma, Daddy, Mommy, Brennan, and Branton to all be there to see him. We are looking forward to actually getting to meet him in a little less than 3 months.


Face


Face


Right arm and hand (face is to the left of the hand)


Both feet (legs are crossed)


Face (mainly the nose)


Face with right arm


Face with right arm (it looks kind of like a foot because of how his hand is folded)


Face (mouth opened)


Face with right arm (wide-open mouth)