Nicole and I had our first appointment with our perinatologist Dr. Piacquadio who will be helping us the rest of the way. We had the meeting last Thursday and she gave us the news that we will be seeing a lot more of her and doctors offices. Nicole has to get a twice weekly Non-Stress Test to check the babies heartbeat and the water level inside the womb. We also will meet with Dr. Paq at least once a week until the baby is born. It is a lot of meetings about the baby leading up to his birth.
Today we met with Dr. Paq again and she has been very helpful answering all of the questions that we have. We found out the baby is measuring at 5 lbs 11 ounces and is growing like normal. We also had the opportunity today to go on the hospital tour at Kaiser Zion in San Diego. This is where we have decided to deliver baby Travis because of the amazing compassion they have shown us through this process. Travis will be then transferred to Children's Hospital of San Diego when he is stable and ready for his first surgery.
Tomorrow we have an appointment with two other surgeons from CHSD who will possibly perform the surgeries on Travis. We really want to feel comfortable with the doctor who will be performing this complex surgery on our precious boy.
We will try to keep people up to date with all of the new information as it becomes available. All of the information is very overwhelming.
WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR:
Travis will be born at Kaiser Zion on the approximate Due Date of 11/2/09.
He has gained 12 ounces in the past week. He is now 5 lbs. 11 ounces.
There is a possibility that the First Surgery may not be as complex as the originally diagnosed. He still will need to have major heart surgery early in his life.
The San Diego Cardiologist Dr. Levy has told us that it is possible that Travis does not have HLHS, but another form of Heart Defect that is associated with a Single Ventricle Defect. He is saying that one of the 2 major arteries is bigger than the other. If the Aorta is the one that is bigger and more mature then Travis does not have HLHS and the surgery will be a little different in its approach.
Nicole,
ReplyDeleteI can relate to all of the appointments. I had to see a perinatologist my entire pregnancy due to diabetes. I had non-stress tests twice a week for the last 15 weeks of my pregnancy and had a weekly doctor's appointment. I felt like I lived at the doctors. It was worth it though. My thoughts and prayers are with you guys. It is rough worrying about your baby, I know. Let me know if I can help in anyway. I am glad you are doing the cord blood banking. We debated about that so much that it became too late.
--Jamie