So after getting myself in a bit of a state and having no sleep Tuesday night worrying about our Great Ormond Street appointment we ended up with some unexpected good news - well as good as it gets when your baby has a severe heart defect.
We got to GOSH really early and luckily was taken straight in for my scan. The sonogropher & doctor don't talk to you at all during it, they just talk to each other and more often than not you can't understand what they are talking about. All they kept saying was that our baby had an SVC, I laid there thinking great something else wrong with her heart, she didn't need that on top of everything else.
We were then called into another room with our nurse Pippa while we waited for the doctor. Pippa started going through a pack of information she'd put together about GOSH and NICU and other wards that we will be on after our babies operation. Then the doctor walked in - with a smile on his face. He said he had some good news, although our baby still has a serious heart condition it seems that she's coping with it pretty well. He explained that the SVC is a vein that's supposed to disappear during the pregnancy, but our little girl has kept hers because she's missing another important vein. This SVC has now taken over the role of the missing vein. He also told us that at the last scan she has a closed valve, which is now half open. So in a sense she has tried to correct her own heart problem - I can't stop thinking how amazing this is! Because of all this and the fact that her heart rate is still going strong despite being at risk of heart block it's looking like she doesn't need surgery until she's 3 or 4 months old.
We are over the moon with this, it's really looking like we get to bring her home from hospital for a while once I've had her. She is still at risk of bowel obstruction but we won't know if this is the case until she's born. If it is she can have a straightforward operation to correct it at the hospital I'm having her in. The doctor from GOSH is going to come over to see her when she's born and scan her to check she's able to go home, but he doesn't see why she can't.
He then went into explaining what they need to do to fix her heart, they are hoping to be able to fix it in just 1 operation but it depends how well she copes during the surgery, but the most she will need is 2. The success rate of this operation is 95-98% and she's looking at a recovery time of 10-14 days.
Its brilliant news for us as I had imagined her having to be in there months and being taken away as soon as she's born. I feel like I can now start to enjoy the rest of this pregnancy a bit more now we know everything is looking as good as it can be.
I was also told that he has written a letter to my consultant at London Hospital to request that I'm not allowed to go overdue, he recommends I'm induced on my due date. He did explain that the consultant still has the final decision but he doesn't see why they won't agree. I'll find out at my next scan on 9th April whether this will be the case.
Pippa then wanted to show us around NICU and the other wards where she will stay, I was dreading this as I thought it would break my heart seeing all the babies with all the wires and machines everywhere but I was wrong. Although it isn't nice seeing any baby like that we could see how well looked after they all were by the nurses - they all looked really peaceful. We were told that once she comes out of NICU we are allowed to stay in the room with her 24/7, there is a bed and a shower for us in the room. We were really pleased with everything and I defiantly think our little girl will be in the best place.
I'm going to do some online shopping now, our little girls going to need things now she's allowed home :D
XxX
