Jason and I returned to our cardiologist, Dr. Liske, yesterday. I have to start out by saying how thoroughly impressed we are with Dr. Liske and his office staff. We could not be happier with the treatment we have received this far, and we are positive that this is the best possible place to care for little Colby!! This makes dealing with what we are facing a little bit easier.
After an extensive echo cardiogram/ultrasound, Dr. Liske has concluded that Colby's heart is showing no change. This is so good to hear, since I of course had fears of them finding more abnormalities now that he is bigger. He also said that there is adequate blood flowing to Colby's lungs, so he should not be blue when he is born (this is a common problem for babies born with heart defects). The adequate blood flow also means that there is a very good chance Colby will not need his first surgery immediately!!!! Thank you God!!! Dr. Liske told us he was about 75% sure we would leave the hospital with our baby before he has to undergo any major surgery! This is such a blessing!!
As far as our initial stay in the hospital post delivery, which has been a huge question in our minds, Dr. Liske seems to think he will probably need around 5-7 days in the NICU for monitoring. If no other complications occur, such as feeding problems and weight gain (also another common problem for heart babies), we should be able to take him home after this week or so stay. This sounds great to us...we were fearing a much longer stay.
All in all, Colby is looking pretty good! Jason and I agree that he is probably going to be feisty and resilient...he was jumping around the whole time they were trying to look at his heart. I think we can all agree that an active baby is a good thing in our case, and he is definitely active!
While we were speaking with Dr. Liske, Jason mentioned that he would love for us to wait the full 40 weeks before we deliver. Dr. Liske did agree that it wouldn't be a bad idea...one more week to develop and grow. For me, at this point, I guess one more week of being a little uncomfortable would be worth it if it would give Colby the best start possible. So, now we just have to speak with our OB office and make sure they are okay with this. If they are, then we could deliver on August 8th. We will never have a hard time remembering this birthday...8/8/08! We will have to let you know when we finally decide on a date.
Thank you again for all of your prayers and support! It is clear from this Echo that God is answering these prayers!! God is good!
The Hitchcock Family
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