This past week has been busy, yet at the same time very relaxed compared to what I'm used to. There seems to be zero substitute teacher work in September. And by zero I mean I get up at 6am every day, get ready to go, look online and wait for a phone call and don't hear anything. So we've made a new budget based on the fact that we're living on one income with no EI and no one will hire me because of my belly. That's been stressful, but it has given me the opportunity to get a lot of other things done and go to appointments without having to worry about looking for coverage at a job.
The day after we got back from our trip to Edmonton and Drumheller I had an appointment with my OBGYN. At my last appointment I had to see a different OB since mine was away, so this was the first time I'd seen her since learning about baby's heart condition. When she came in she asked how I was feeling and brought up the TGA diagnosis. This was where I found out that she was the one who made the judgement call to send me for the second assessment. She said from the ultrasound report she received it looked like baby was just at a funny angle for the pictures that were needed and since everything else looked great she didn't suspect for a moment that there was anything wrong. But for some reason she decided to send me for the second assessment just to have those pictures, and that's when we found out it wasn't all good news. She said she was shocked by the diagnosis, and we are so grateful that she made the call to send us for another appointment!
The day after we got back from our trip to Edmonton and Drumheller I had an appointment with my OBGYN. At my last appointment I had to see a different OB since mine was away, so this was the first time I'd seen her since learning about baby's heart condition. When she came in she asked how I was feeling and brought up the TGA diagnosis. This was where I found out that she was the one who made the judgement call to send me for the second assessment. She said from the ultrasound report she received it looked like baby was just at a funny angle for the pictures that were needed and since everything else looked great she didn't suspect for a moment that there was anything wrong. But for some reason she decided to send me for the second assessment just to have those pictures, and that's when we found out it wasn't all good news. She said she was shocked by the diagnosis, and we are so grateful that she made the call to send us for another appointment!
I also found out that this was going to be my last appointment with her because she wanted to pass me on to another OBGYN who specializes in higher risk cases. I'll be meeting her in a couple weeks. I'm nervous because I've seen so many different doctors at this point I don't know who knows what about our case, and I don't really have the opportunity to actually build a relationship with anyone to feel like I know them and they know me. Maybe I'm crazy. |
As I've been doing more research I've come across a statistic (and don't quote me on it because I wasn't able to get a source for the number so I don't know how accurate it is) that said only 19% of TGA cases are diagnosed in utero. I'm so grateful to be able to prepare for this, but at this point I don't know if doing more research is good or bad for me. Seeing all the other complications, and realizing that the chances of it being only TGA are exceptionally rare, is starting to get to me. There are so many other things that usually accompany this heart defect, many of which can't be diagnosed by ultrasound... But one of my dear friends is trying to help me get my mind off things so she's having me come visit her for a couple days out at her place in California. This is certainly not something we can afford right now but she is so generous and is covering my travel costs.
And since I may not always have a riveting post each week I'm going to start including bump-dates (bump updates), just in case anyone is interested. I'm 27 weeks pregnant now, which means this is my last week of second trimester. I finally look pregnant! I'm going to try to post every Tuesday from now on since it's my week turn-over day and for those of you who are following you'll know when to come back for an update! "All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt." - Charles Schulz |