what. a. day.this is the kind of day that every mama has nightmares about...we went to the pediatrician for miss maeve's first appt./weight check today and it went well. they had us in bright and early and she already weighs 7 pounds 1 ounce (she was just 6/11 on monday! yay for good breastfeeding skills!). the doctor said she is doing beautiful BUT she heard a slight murmur in her heart. this wasn't a surprise because the first time the doctor examined her in the hospital she thought she heard a little murmur, but then the second doctor didn't hear one and then today--it was magically back again...
so, she referred us to the cardiologist and they rushed us into an appt. immediately following our ped. appt. i had a slight emotional breakdown in the car--i am head over heels for this baby and any bad news was pretty much devastating to me...so, i made steve leave work and we headed to the cardiologist at CHOP (they have an office in voorhees). first of all, the cardiologist was one of the most handsome--movie-star type men i have ever seen--like 6'4'' and looked like denzel washington--(i'm allowed to say this b/c even my husband agrees! he was super nice and knew immediately that her murmur wasn't dangerous but was concerned because she had a weak pulse in her feet/legs. he ordered an ultrasound of her heart to check the condition of her aorta.
ultrasounds take 20 minutes. maeve is just a few days old and had already been at the doctors for about 4 hours...did i mention they are supposed to lay still for 20 minutes! yikes!
maeve is a champion. she was perfect--she didn't move at all and even eventually fell asleep (even though she only ate for about 20 minutes all morning since we were feeding under cover between doctors etc...).
so apparently her aorta is fine BUT she has a thickened wall in one of the chambers of her heart that could be one of 3 things:
1. thicker heart b/c i had problems with sugar during pregnancy (like diabetes--which i tested neg. for but if i had high glucose it could have affected her heart). if this is the case it should clear up when we go back in 2 months.
2. the muscle fibers are on the side of the chamber so it could appear to be thick even though it isn't--it could be just that it's hard to tell cause she's tiny. this also should appear to disappear at a later date.
3. one of two strange genetic problems that could be degenerative in nature. this is the bad one-which the doctor thinks it isn't, but there is always a possibility. he says that kids with either of these problems usually have a strange appearance, weird coloring--both of which maeve doesn't have.
so, that was our day! it was horrible. i cried a lot--i'm sure the lack of sleep and hormones didn't help.
maeve's FIRSTS for the day:
* doctor's appt.
* outing into the world
* shot
* ekg
* heart ultrasound
* breastfeeding in public (my LEAST favorite..)
i think that's enough for one day....don't you?
oh wait! amelie had a FIRST too--
she saw me use the breast pump for the first time and said, "i can squeeze it mama!" so of course, i let her squeeze it...so amelie is now a certified lactation consultant! ahh! never let a toddler squeeze the breast pump! owwwwy hahahha =-)
6 comments:
Poor Maeve sounds like she had quite the busy first day out. Thoughts and prayers for you guys!
Josh is quite handy with the breast pump, too. They must be soul mates of some kind. ;)
Ok first of all the breast pump thing is hillarious!! What a helper:) ha ha....
I am sorry that you guys had such a rough apt...I know how scary those early consults can be, especially when you are soooo tired and hormonal, and when you get no warning......I am glad that the news was mostly good...we'll pray for the first 2 senarios....does she go back in a few months to re- check?
Oh and the cute Dr thing- that is hillarous too:) Did you know that I worked at CHOP before I moved out to Chicago? Its a great hospital!! In fact my sister in law is a peds nutritionist there now....I think living near a good Children's Hospital is a must... or it is at least for us now:) glad you got in with the hot Dr right away....Relax as you can tonight- We'll lift little Mauve up in prayer:)
michelle-sounds like a rough day there! hannah had a heart murmur for almost her first year. each time i went it was sounded different. they had told me that if she still had it after her first b-day they would look into it more. she didn't have it at that point but i have to admit that you do worry about things like that even if they tell you it's probably nothing. we'll be praying for you guys!
Poor lil babe.... what a rough day for the two of you,. I will pray that everything turns out alright and that you guys don't have to go to the doctor anymore anytime soon!
thank you all for your kind words! no one ever said being a mama was easy!
Oh man, you guys had a rough day. Bravo on the new lactation consultant however. I will pray for Maeve and that it is either option A or B. Hope you are getting "some" rest.
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