The Scariest Moment of Our Lives

WARNING: Long post, but necessarily so


Everyday at the hospital, the pediatrician would come in and assess Sophia to make sure she was growing and developing as she should. By Friday morning, Dr. Goodspeed (our ped.) noticed that she could still hear Sophia's heart murmur. She told us that it is extremely common for babies to be born with a murmur, but that Sophia's was a little louder than normal. So she called in a pediatric cardiographer to give our precious baby an echo cardiogram (basically an ultrasound of the heart). He came Friday night. He didn't say anything during the entire echo, so we waited through the half hour of silence watching the screen in dread, trying to make sense of what we were seeing. Finally, when he was finished, he played back for us everything he recorded and explained in detail what we were looking at. He told us that all babies have two small holes in their heart when they are born, and that they close within a matter of months. Sophia was on schedule with these holes closing (one was already closed!). BUT she has an extra hole in her heart. It is a long slit-shaped hole between the lower two chambers of her heart. He referred to this type of hole as a Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD). This is not usually a problem when the hole is small enough, but Sophie's hole is considered "moderate" in size. So what does this mean? When there is a large opening between the ventricles, a large amount of oxygen-rich blood from the heart's left side is forced through the defect into the right side. Then it's pumped back to the lungs, even though it's already been refreshed with oxygen. Basically this makes the heart work overtime, because it is pumping the same blood through twice.
The cardiographer told us not to be too concerned, and that there is a good chance of it closing on its own within the first 12 months of life. He told us that we need to bring Sophia to a pediatric cardiologist for the next year, so they can monitor the progress of the hole. He also told us some things to watch for, that would signal there was some kind of problem with Soph. So we scheduled our first appointment at the heart clinic for the end of October, when Sophie will be 5 weeks old.
As the cardiographer was leaving, we asked him what would happen if Sophie's hole doesn't close in the first year. Would she need surgery? He was quick to assure us that the size of her hole would not require surgery, and that she could still live a perfectly normal life with the hole. She would just get tired faster, and not be able to put quite as much strain on her body.
Praise God. It was the scariest night that both Jared and I have ever lived. No parent wants to hear that this beautiful new baby lying in their arms has a hole in her heart. It was terrifying. We have been praying for Sophia's heart everyday since then, and have high hopes that God will heal her little heart. We would really appreciate all of your prayers as well.