Samuel’s Heart

We went to the pediatric cardiologist a little over a week ago. They’re the first of many specialists we’ll see regarding Samuel’s condition.

We were referred to the cardiologist because our original ultrasound showed problems with Samuel’s heart. Trisomy 18 kids often have significant and life-threatening heart conditions, so this meeting was an important one. Our appointment would involve a detailed ultrasound of his heart and a consultation with a cardiologist.

Joanna’s mom came along to watch Daniel, which was a blessing because the last couple appointments we brought him along to were pretty interrupted by his squirmy-ness. All the pediatric specialists at Strong have great toys in their waiting room, so Daniel was happy as a clam to have both toys and attention from Grandma.

Our ultrasound tech was new and still in training. She was a little slow taking images, but she didn’t poke and prod Joanna too much, so that seemed like a win. We weren’t in a rush; we wanted the best images she could get.

Eventually an experienced tech came in to check things over, and they took us to a different room to talk with the doctor. She started drawing on a diagram with two hearts sketched side-by-side. First she drew a normal, healthy heart; then, Samuel’s. To my untrained eye, they looked pretty much the same.

“I have good news: your baby’s heart doesn’t have any major problems. There’s a small hole in the wall between the right and left chambers, but many healthy babies have this condition, and it often closes on its own.”

I blinked a bit. I didn’t know what to do with such a positive report. From our reading about Trisomy 18 I’d expected the worst: an improperly-formed heart that couldn’t sustain his life outside the womb. This was far better news.

The doctor told us the small hole in Samuel’s heart will likely not need immediate attention after he’s born. This is a considerable relief for us because it removes one of the big questions we could have faced: do we need to perform heart surgery on our newborn? Intervention questions are even dicier because Trisomy 18 kids’ damaged genes often slow recovery, which is already not trivial for any newborn, regardless of health.

As far as we know, Samuel’s other health concerns are still there. But we’re thankful to have one of our potential difficult decisions taken off the table for now.