First Cardiologist Appointment

Stephen, Sam, and I went to Dallas this morning for Sam's first appointment at the cardiologist.  I feel like he is a completely normal baby at home...and then we take him to a doctor appointment, and I remember how serious his heart condition is.   A nurse checked his vitals, did an EKG to check heart rate and activity in his ventricles, and checked his oxygen saturation.  The EKG had 12 leads coming off of 12 stickers, which completely covered his little chest.  This baby hates to be naked, and he had to be for all of these tests.  Everything was going fine until the nurse tried to check his O2 sats.  The pulse oximeter is a tiny strip that looks kind of like a band aid with a little monitor on it that they stick onto the bottom of his foot or the palm of his hand.  He HATES it!  The pulse ox read his sats in the 40s in 50s at first--for people with a normal heart, O2 sats are 93%+, and Sam's have been in the 80's, which is good for him.  The nurse called in another nurse for help, and 30 minutes later, they asked Dr. Kao to come in and do it.  It took her approximately 3 seconds to get a good reading.  I felt so bad for the nurses.  Sam, however, did not.  What a stinker.

He looks a little too pleased with himself.

Then, the sonographer, John, did an echocardiogram.  He did numerous fetal echos while Sam was in utero, but this one was much clearer.  John talked us through most of the exam, and showed us several pictures that clearly showed the anatomy of his heart.  He explained that the VSD will not change in size as Sam and his heart grow, which is the reason he will need surgery when he will--basically, smaller and smaller amounts of blood will flow to the pulmonary valve and then to the lungs for oxygenation, which will gradually lower his oxygen saturation over time.  The VSD measures 4mm, which John said is the exact size of the shunt they would have put in within the first week after his delivery if the VSD had been either too small or too large.  It is so amazing to me how many different ways the Lord has shown his perfect design in Sam's situation so far.  Sam slept through all of this part of the appointment.

Dr. Kao was happy with the results of each of the exams.  She said he will have surgery in three months probably.  

Here are my boys waiting for Sam's appointment.  

Thankfully, Stephen is wearing his hunting safety orange since Sam blends in with the couch in that camo.  It looks like they're ready to go hunting.

It feels like we have been home for months, and it's only been a week!  Here are a few pictures from the past week.

The four of us took a walk around our neighborhood and played outside a lot this week.  We are loving this weather!

More of Harper's shenanigans

My awesome photographer friend, Marissa, took Sam's newborn and our family pictures last night.  I can't wait to post them after I get birth announcements sent out!