Mermaid's EKG/Echo

Sweet hair day for Mermaid! ;)

Mermaid had her EKG and echocardiogram on the same day as LL (Lizard Loaf). It's destiny. The MD felt confident telling me that his preliminary viewing of 80 something pictures of her heart indicated no defects. The total number of photos topped 130+ by the time we left and they'll be comped over before the official report is filed, but I'm feeling pretty good about that diagnosis. =)

Fortunately, I had a girlfriend explain what to expect and how to prepare. I want to be that girlfriend for you, in case any of you are going through this for the first time. Step one: plan to be at the hospital for a while. I packed a couple of Clif bars for me and a bottle for Mermaid. The EKG wasn't a big deal. Mermaid did have to strip down to her diaper and it took a couple of minutes to put special stickers all over her and hook up the electric leads, but the actual test only took a couple of minutes max. then they removed all of the stickers, though some residue remained on Mermaid's belly. I asked the technician how the results looked and she just said she wasn't a physician and couldn't discuss it with me. That left me nervous. I learned they really just can't tell you. It's not allowed.

Then we waited to be called for the echocardiogram. I had heard this would take about an hour once they started. In our case it was 2 technicians and 2 doctors and 1 hour 45 minutes. Mermaid finished her bottle and I had to down a Clif bar while they were changing technicians. Technically, no food was allowed. What's a nursing mom to do? I had left my home three hours earlier! It's important that the child hold very still especially during the echo, so being asleep or having a bottle to drink for that 1-2 hour process is so helpful. The last thing you want to do is be sent home and have to reschedule because your baby wasn't cooperating. Also, baby must be bare chested so it might be nice for baby to wear a button up or just take baby's top off and keep baby comfy in a blanket until it's your turn. Maybe baby will even fall asleep and you wouldn't want to have to wake them up by taking their clothes off for the echo. Now, the technicians could certainly help the process by warming the ultra sound gel. Mermaid was actually pretty good and took her sweet time with the bottle, but towards the end got really bored with being calm and wanted to play with the cables stuck to her shoulder. The technician was working right under her neck, so Mermaid went to work sucking on the technician's hands.

It was amazing watching her little heart pump so steadily. I could clearly see all of the chambers working. Then the technician would flip a switch to help her see blood flowing in and out and it came in three different colors: blue, red, yellow. It was like fireworks exploding in Mermaid's chest. When the doctor came in to tell me there were no defects, I felt like there were fireworks exploding in my chest too! Woo Hoo!

Echocardiogram

I nearly passed out. It wasn't that the news was shocking (we didn't even have any news yet) or the procedure so painful (no needles involved)... actually, I don't know what it was. But whatever the cause, I started to black-out about 10 minutes into the ultrasound with the pediatric cardiologist. They got me some more pillows, a drink of water, and I stole an apple slice from the snacks I'd brought for Her Nibs. I've still felt weak all day, but I did avoid actually passing out.

An echocardiogram is an ultrasound where they look exclusively at the heart, but in great detail and with an expert on the heart. We saw a pediatric cardiology fellow first, then the head honcho pediatric cardiologist came in for a few minutes to get a few pictures himself, and he's the one who sat down and talked with us afterwards. I shifted by legs around a little at the beginning and the doctor said "Yeah. Make yourself comfortable. This is going to take about 45 minutes." Seriously?! A 45 minute ultrasound?! Yep. Seriously. We accepted their offer to put a movie on for Her Nibs.

It wasn't fun, exactly, since I was still sort of fighting for consciousness the whole time and felt very uncomfortable while trying to lie still and hoping Lizard Loaf wasn't in a bad position for pictures. At the same time, I've been waiting anxiously for this day and the results of the echocardiogram ever since we learned Lizard Loaf has Down syndrome. Nearly 50% of children with Down syndrome have a congenital heart defect (you probably know this, but congenital just means 'born with it'). Usually, the problem is a hole between the four chambers of the heart, pretty much right in the middle. This is, of course, a bad thing. The solution is a surgery within the first year of life that is actually fairly routine. Babies with this heart problem have a harder time circulating oxygen, so they tend to be sleepier, and I've read about one that had a bluish tinge until after the surgery. From what I understand, babies who need this surgery are usually in the hospital for less than a week and recover very quickly. This sort of health problem is not desirable (by any stretch), but it's not the end of the world.

Fortunately, Lizard Loaf's echo cardiogram came up completely normal.

*huge sigh of relief*

We're not completely out of the woods, but Lizard Loaf definitely doesn't have the big hole in the middle of his heart between all four chambers. In fact, he doesn't have any major heart problems at all. Unfortunately, this ultrasound can't see everything. The heart, I learned today, works differently before a baby is born. The heart fast-tracks oxygenated blood from the placenta straight to the brain, rather than cycling it through the lungs first (which don't have any oxygen to give yet, obviously). Once a baby is born and starts taking in oxygen, the tubes change a little, and the blood picks up oxygen in the lungs before going to the brain. The pressure between the various chambers of the heart changes after a baby is born, too. Some things that might be invisible now would be apparent later after these changes happen. Also, Lizard Loaf's heart isn't much bigger than a quarter right now. You can only see so much on such a tiny organ. There's still a chance he has a small hole in his heart. Even if he has one now (which we can't detect), it could easily fix itself before he's born. And even if he has one that doesn't fix itself before he's born, it would probably still repair itself and not need surgery.

I know this is a rambling post. I hope it makes sense. Bottom line: There are no guarantees in life, but in every way we can measure right now, Lizard Loaf is perfectly healthy. And Turtar and I are very grateful for that.

Pictures

Yeah. I know. He's pretty much gorgeous (and with quite a schnoze, too). Sometimes I wake up and think: It's all a mistake. When my baby boy is born, he will be healthy and normal. He especially will not have Down syndrome. What is counting chromosomes suppose to prove anyway?

*sigh*

Natalie Merchant's song "Wonder" fits Mermaid better (for reasons of gender), but I've adopted it, too, as part of a new logo. I'm making a onesie for Lizard Loaf with this on it: