Thomas Update

Thanks (again!) to everyone for the support and prayers you showered me with after I shared with you that Thomas was having to go see a pediatric cardiologist. Please be sure to check out the comments after this post because some other families and their precious babies could use some extra prayers as well.

Here’s a quick (happy!) update:

Friday proved to be a long day, but it ended very well. An EKG and echocardiogram revealed our Thomas is just fine and ruled out a ventrical septal defect (VSD). He has what’s known as an – get ready some ridiculously long medical mumbo jumbo – “innocent peripheral pulmonary artery flow murmur of infancy.” In other words, his heart is completely normal. Fifty percent of babies have this type of murmur, in fact. The pediatric cardiologist we saw was wonderful. He took tons of time to explain things to me and even drew an elaborate diagram. This was very helpful because I was actually able to answer my husband’s questions and use doctor-speak with him. I learned a lot about babies’ hearts yesterday!

If the heart murmur doesn’t go away by a year, then we’ll need to follow up to rule out an atrial septal defect. However, this is very unlikely.

There was another baby at the pediatric cardiologist’s office who was three months old. The sweet baby girl has been in and out of the hospital since having open heart surgery when she was only a few days old, and it sounded like she was going to have to be admitted again. I wanted to weep for that mama. Seeing her and her daughter also made me think of a friend I have whose son had to have heart surgery shortly after birth after a congenital heart defect was discovered while my friend was pregnant with him. At the time of this baby’s surgery, I had a fairly new baby of my own (our second), but I wonder why I didn’t reach out to her a little more. I sent a card and prayed, but I could have surely done more.

Still, we can’t always do more and as I’ve said to friends near and far, the greatest gift to our family has been just knowing that others are thinking about us and lifting us up in prayer. I don’t ever want to undermine that kind of moral support.

My pregnancy and this recent heart scare have taught me many things: abandonment to God and trust that He will be here no matter what happens;  just how precious and miraculous these babies entrusted to me are; and the value of a kind friend who forgets her own agenda to minister to you. I’ve had many friends do just that, and I hope to always do the same for loved ones and even strangers in need – even if it’s just a simple but heartfelt prayer on their behalf.

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I do want to get around to sharing Thomas’s birth story one of these days, but finding time to settle down in front of the computer, much less write anything meaningful, is proving to be very challenging. I keep reminding myself that our little boy isn’t even two weeks old (he’ll hit that milestone tomorrow). I’ve told several of my friends that things have been crazy-wonderful around here. That’s the best way I can think to describe our home these days. Crazy, chaotic, full, and…wonderful.

Speaking of birth stories, I’m anxious to hear Charlotte’s, especially after this beautiful post.

Enjoy your weekend!