Bless her little heart

These next two posts are copied and pasted from my other blog. For those of you who don't know the details about Sydney's condition these two posts will get you up-to-date on just about everything.

I'm taking advantage of Sydney's nap time to give you an update on how she is doing. We went to the Pediatric cardiologist from Primary Childrens last wednesday and like always, it's a little scary. By the time we pulled up to the hospital my stomach was in my throat and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to walk through the doors. I was so nervous. We got up to the cardiovascular center of the hospital, checked in, and waited for our turn to see the Dr. While we were waiting, we met the nicest people. One woman asked if our daughter had a heart problem too and my answer was yes. At that moment I felt like I was in a dream. I never thought that I would find myself in the position where I had to take my daughter to a heart specialist and talk with other families who's kids have heart problems. I felt like I had entered into a whole other world of worry and yet so much support from these other families. It was like we were all sitting in the waiting room cheering each other on and being the positive reinforcement that we all so desperately needed.

Our turn came and they instantly had us undress Sydney so they could hook her up to an EKG. They just wanted a reading on her pulse to see if was steady. Once that was over, the Dr. came in. She listened to Syd's heart, felt around her tummy to see if she had any enlarged organs, listened to her lungs, and tested her blood circulation. After the Dr. had finished her assessment she asked us what we knew about VSD. We told her what other Dr.'s had told us and she filled in the cracks by answering ALL of the questions we had which seemed to be a lot. She told us that Sydney's hole was very large and that surgery was still most-likely needed unless, by some miracle, the hole closes itself but being that the hole is so large they don't think it will. She said that because of the hole, Syd's liver is becoming enlarged and it is beginning to sink inside her body. She also told us that her lungs have a lot of blood in them and it is causing her to have to work extra hard to breathe. By the time to Dr. was done talking tears were rolling down my face. I was so grateful Jordan was there with me because he was the strong one who held all of us together.

Fortunately, with the medication the Dr. prescribed for Syd, her liver should go back down to size and come back to where it should be and her lungs will not put as much strain on her breathing. How grateful I am for modern medicine! The Dr. told us that they like babies to be over 12 lbs before they do the surgery because then the babies have more fat on their little bodies and surgery won't be quite as hard on their bodies. She said that after the surgery, Syd will spend 3-4 days in the NICU and then 7-10 days after that in just a regular hospital room. And that by the time we leave the hospital, Syd should be almost fully recovered. Amazing! The surgery has a 97% success rate. At Primary Children hospital they do this exact surgery 700 times a year! That just goes to show you how common this heart defect really is. We still don't know for sure when she'll have surgery. As long as she continues to grow- they are going to postpone the surgery as long as possible. But if and when she starts to plateau or fall in weight is when they would perform the surgery. So really, its just one big waiting game.
We are so blessed to have a daughter who, despite her heart, is still very healthy and happy. She is a ray of sunshine and has so much light in her eyes. We are still grateful for every prayer that is said in our behalf. We know that we are being watched over. Thank you all for your love and support.