JD Has Heart

Sidenote: if any of our medical “speak” sounds off there is a good chance it is . . . but just go with it you get the general idea (you probably don't know the medical terms either :)

Today was our appointment with the cardiologist from Children’s Memorial for the fetal ECHO, which is just a fancy way to say “ultrasound with a focus on the baby’s heart.” Dr. GT’s job was to look at all the heart “connections” to ensure everything is functioning as it should. Also, she was looking to confirm the Pleural Effusions are isolated and not related to the heart (meaning there is nothing wrong with the blood flow into or out of the heart). In short here are today’s findings:

·      Skin: no fluid build-up between skin – YAY!

·      Atrial/Ventricle Motion Test: the ability to squeeze & relax is good for all chambers

·      Atrial/Ventricle Blood Flow: good, nothing is amiss

·      Connections: good; the right side connection was hard to find but once established all connections looked good

·      Overall Function: good

·      ASD: signs of possible ASD (the space is slightly larger than normal); once again, nothing to be concerned about at this time

·      Pleural Effusions: no obvious heart reasons for the fluid around the lungs (more fluid around the right lung than the left). Pleural effusions compounded with heart problems leads to more tribulations, therefore, our findings are good news!

·      Pulmonary Valve: measuring small but flow looks good

Overall, today was a good day! We have good days and we have bad days but in reality we create our own good/bad days. Nate and I have chosen to find the positives (no matter how small) in every appointment. We truly believe JD is a fighter. Each time we start to worry about JD the little man proves to us he is a champ. How does he prove it -- he will spend the two-hour long ultrasound “running” or at night he loves to do a little Tae Bo (he is old school) or JD tries to get his big brother’s attention by punching Connor while he sits on my lap when I read to him. JD is active, JD is already surpassing what is expected of him, and JD has heart. All your thoughts and prayers are with us. Thank you!