Hi! My name is Melissa, I'm 28 years old, married to my best friend, and our baby has a congenital heart defect known as the Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA). To clarify, we haven't actually met our baby yet, since I'm only 24 weeks pregnant right now.
Our baby was diagnosed with TGA back in August when we were asked to go for a secondary fetal assessment after the ultrasound technicians were unable to get all the photos they needed during our initial 20 week anatomy scan ultrasound. At that second appointment it was confirmed that something was not right but we were sent for further analysis by a pediatric cardiologist and a geneticist for diagnosis. On August 13, 2015, my birthday, we were told that our baby had TGA. At this point I found myself searching the internet for as much information on TGA as I could find. Fortunately there is a lot of documentation, journal, and medical articles on the condition so that was reassuring. But what I wasn't seeing a lot of were stories of real people. I knew what to expect from a medical stand point, but what was it like from a more human perspective. There are a couple blogs out there, and truthfully, their words really helped me to come to terms with the situation.
So now it's my turn.
For me personally, it's a way to document this journey. To process things and look back on this chapter of my life.
For family and friends, it's a way for you to stay up to date with how things are going, particularly once baby is born and we're off in Edmonton or Vancouver for surgery.
For anyone else who may stumble upon this blog, I hope that you find it informative, interesting, and possibly bring you hope if you or someone you love is going through this kind of situation.
Be prepared for some fitness posts too... sorry, force of habit ;)
Our baby was diagnosed with TGA back in August when we were asked to go for a secondary fetal assessment after the ultrasound technicians were unable to get all the photos they needed during our initial 20 week anatomy scan ultrasound. At that second appointment it was confirmed that something was not right but we were sent for further analysis by a pediatric cardiologist and a geneticist for diagnosis. On August 13, 2015, my birthday, we were told that our baby had TGA. At this point I found myself searching the internet for as much information on TGA as I could find. Fortunately there is a lot of documentation, journal, and medical articles on the condition so that was reassuring. But what I wasn't seeing a lot of were stories of real people. I knew what to expect from a medical stand point, but what was it like from a more human perspective. There are a couple blogs out there, and truthfully, their words really helped me to come to terms with the situation.
So now it's my turn.
For me personally, it's a way to document this journey. To process things and look back on this chapter of my life.
For family and friends, it's a way for you to stay up to date with how things are going, particularly once baby is born and we're off in Edmonton or Vancouver for surgery.
For anyone else who may stumble upon this blog, I hope that you find it informative, interesting, and possibly bring you hope if you or someone you love is going through this kind of situation.
Be prepared for some fitness posts too... sorry, force of habit ;)