It's been a couple weeks since my last update here and two visits have come and gone...both interesting.
I don't have the energy to go into painful detail about either visit, but in general Little Man is doing well. He's growing properly (unlike Olivia, who was already a chunker at this point!) and nice and active. My sugars are generally okay, with a spike and adjustment here and there. The staff at CHOP seem pleased with where I'm keeping them, so I should feel proud.
Last visit was a marathon visit, with an echo and card consult, OB, BPP, u/s and various and sundry poking. The echo found something new...possibly another defect in this little guy's heart. "Unroofed coronary sinus" was the phrase Dr. D used. He explained that there is a normal set of veins that run between the atria and they help the two chambers to communicate and coordinate movement. There is an indication that Little Man's heart is missing the "roof" on this path, providing for too much blood to cross and messing up the communication. Dr. D said that we wouldn't know much more until he was born and could have his first echo, then the surgeons would have a better idea of what we're dealing with. Until then, he said not to worry too much (ha!). Thankfully, his truncal valve is growing well and not showing any signs of regurgitation and there's no indication of stenosis.
It didn't really hit me until later what this was...another diagnosis. I googled and searched and reached out to fellow heart moms for more information, only to get very little. Not much out there about this and only a fraction of that is for peds. Terribly frustrating, but at the same time, there's not much we can do but wait and see. I'm starting to grow numb to the waiting and seeing part of this.
Unfortunately, after I was done with this conversation, I went to see the OB and caught up on my own health. After some probing questions, we determined that I was having too many contractions and pelvic pain to be on my feet for the rest of the day. Thankfully, I was still closed and posterior, but the doc sent me home for strict bed rest for the remainder of the day. Even though I didn't actually get home until after 2 that afternoon, it was a welcomed chance to catch up on rest. I got an earful from everyone at CHOP about my activity level and being sent home that day really hit me. No playing around with this pregnancy...I have to strictly follow doctor's orders.
Since then, I managed to get more rest thanks to my MIL and FIL, who took Olivia for the afternoon on Saturday so that Michael and I could have some time to catch up on...well, everything! Liv had a blast and did laps when she finally got home, grinning from ear to ear about her day. I finally slowed down long enough to think and it was very helpful on a thousand different fronts. Amazing what a little time can do!
Today, I had another OB visit and BPP and yet another surprise. Geeze! Thankfully no emergency, but still. Seems I have developed a good deal of fluid around the baby -- measuring over 25 and technically polyhydramnios. One reading alone doesn't really help understand whether it's important or what to do, so we wait to see how things go in a week. What I can tell is that there might be some indication that little man is having a hard time swallowing (something that worries me a GREAT deal, obviously). If the fluid continues to develop, it looks like there are a number of things that could be done (bed rest, amnio, early delivery), but I have no sense of what becomes the approach of choice for a heart baby pregnancy. Hopefully, we'll know more in a week! At least I figured out why I feel like such a whale!
That's all the update I have energy for right now. One day, I hope to look back on all of these dense posts and "remember when..." we were going through this ancient history. For now, thought, it's worth getting it town on paper, so to speak.
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