Heart Update

We had a rough day today. Went to the follow up with the Pediatrician in SLO. He wanted to check up on Henry's heart murmur. I totally thought he was going to say that it was gone and to have a nice life. So, boy was I thrown for a loop when he said that he wanted me to go see a Pediatric Cardiologist. He suggested seeing this Dr. in Santa Barbara. Apparently he's awesome and really spends a lot of time talking things through with his patients. He has the echo machines in his office, so he does the reading right then and there and can give you information on the spot. Otherwise, I would have to do the echo at Sierra Vista, have them sent away for a few days, and make another appointment to get the readings, and possibly another appointment for more review. So, I opted for one appointment in Santa Barbara, than three in SLO.

Dr. Bravo is concerned that the murmur is the same as it was two weeks ago. He said that there are three options: 1) do nothing; 2) give Henry medicine to help his heart close up; or 3) surgery. He was unable to give me any indication of what route we were headed towards. The moment I heard the words "heart surgery" in the same sentence as my sweet five pound baby, I teared up. I know that it's not necessarily what will happen, but it is certainly a possibility. Dr. Bravo took off his glasses, set down his pen and firmly said the following: "Listen. I want you to hear this. This is not an issue of mortality. Even in the worst case if Henry needs surgery, he will be fine and live a long life. He will break windows with baseballs and refuse to eat his vegetables. Do not worry that your baby will die. So, even if we end up with the worst case scenario, it's not that bad." He then went on to say that if we are looking at surgery, that he has definite opinions on who should do it, since not everyone does babies.

I'm reassured by Dr. Bravo's speech, but I still hate the idea of my little boy undergoing heart surgery. He's so little, I can't imagine how much that would hurt. So, I'm trying really hard to keep it together. I keep reminding myself that we don't know if he'll need surgery...or not. He may not. And that would be outstanding. But it's still hard to get that kind of news. Precautionary or not. Our appointment is in SB next Thursday the 19th at 9:00 a.m. I asked him if Henry's early arrival (three weeks early) had anything to do with his heart and he said no. Even if he stayed in utero for two weeks after the due date, the development of the heart has been long established. So, his prematurity has nothing to do with his murmur. That's good to know.

Then we had an appointment with Brenda and she did his newborn screening...which requires cutting his little foot and collecting blood. Poor kid cried so hard. And so did mommy. It was just too much to bear right after our visit with Dr. Bravo. Luckily Andy was there to help. On a stupidly positive note, I have lost another 3 pounds. Sadly, I so don't care. Really doesn't matter anymore, does it?

Henry did provide some laughs as he peed all over Brenda...and I mean, PEE. I can't believe such a little dude can store so much! We about died laughing. It just kept going and going...and poor Brenda screaming the whole time. It was pretty funny.

Anyway, if you can squeeze us in, please pray for our little man. Hopefully all will be okay and we won't need anything that drastic. I've informed Henry that after all this, he better not give me any trouble as a teenager...