Tuesday, October 10, 2006



Because I was considered to having a high risk pregnancy due to being 37 years of age, I was receiving sonograms more frequently than my previous pregnancies 10 and 12 years prior. I went to an appointment in October 2005 for a sonogram. After about 30 minutes of moving around, getting up and walking, the sonographer asked me to come back again in November for another sonogram. The explanation given to me was that she wasn't getting pictures of the heart that she wanted. You see, my baby was not being very cooperative with getting her picture taken. So I went back a month later for my November appointment. After what seemed to be 30-45 minutes again of picture taking with the sonographer, she went out of the room to speak with my ob/gyn. A couple of minutes later he came in to explain the situation with my baby. It was the first time I had ever heard about Transposition of the Great Arteries and heart defects. A couple of days later, I was heading down to Pittsburgh to Magee Women's Hospital for a ultrasound and echocardiogram. The diagnosis was confirmed that day. The next couple of months consisted of trips to Pittsburgh for more ultrasounds and echocardiograms, appointments with genetic specialists and meeting the pediatric cardiologist who would be performing the open heart surgery on my newborn child. I also made several trips to the local library to do research and many hours of internet searching to find out whatever I could about what was to happen after delivering my little miracle. She was on a ton of prayer lines and was referred to as our miracle baby. Delivery was scheduled and happened on Wednesday, February 22, 2006 without any complications. It was a day that I had chosen because it was also Girl Scout Thinking Day. You see I am an employee of the Girl Scouts of Penn Lakes Council and before that, I was a Girl Scout leader for my other two daughters. I was also a Girl Scout when I was young. So it meant a lot to be able to chose that day. It was a normal delivery except for having two teams in the delivery room, the delivery team and the neonatal team. I was able to hold her for maybe 15-30 seconds after she was born before they wisked her away. A couple of hours later, I was taken down to the triage room to say goodbye to her before they transported her to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. That was 6 blocks from where she was delivered at Magee Women's Hospital. It was heartbreaking for me to say goodbye to her. I was able to get a pass to go see her that night. What a scary thing to see your baby hooked up to machines and wires everywhere. The surgery occured on Monday, February 27, 2006. When it was time for them to take her out of the room, my heart dropped. I didn't want them to take her. I was afraid of what was going to happen. Well, we sat in the waiting room for about 4 hours. She was so helpless. She had so many tubes and machines connected to her. Her chest was covered with this film to where you could see her heart beating inside. The surgery was a success. It wasn't until Thursday that she was able to have her chest closed. And she moved out of the CICU the following Monday. She is now 4 months old and growing like crazy. It is amazing to think about all that she has been through in her short little life so far. We will only have to wait and see what the future holds for her.

Sharon

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