We went in for Dylan's yearly check for his heart on Monday. Instead of doing an ECHO, they did an EKG, which is 10 stickers all over the chest, arms and legs, attached to 10 wires that hook up to a computer. Here is a picture of a similar one he did right before his heart surgery:
As you might imagine, Dylan didn't want any part of it. He screamed and cried and was so afraid. And of course you can't get a good reading of the heart when there is stress. So after we got him all hooked up, we were able to calm him down enough to get some accurate readings.
We then met with the doc and she said that based on the readings and listening to Dylan's heart, she doesn't think it has changed much since last year, which is a good thing. There is a certain number from the EKG that she looks at.....last year it was 216, this year it is 222. When it gets to 280, then it is time to have a full valve replacement, because the leak in the pulmonary valve has gotten too big. We are hoping to put this procedure off for several more years. Age 10-12 would be a much better time to do this surgery. So.....so far, so good.
Dylan weighed in at 23.8 lbs, so he's still pretty little, but he's getting a bit taller. And we are still working with him on his speech. It is hard to believe that this little guy will be 3 in January!
As an aside, we are now expecting baby #5, and we are very excited about it! I think it will be a hard transition for Dylan to not be the baby anymore, but I think it will be good for him, and I hope that he rises to the occasion. I only mention this here because of what we found in the baby's fetal ECHO. The doctor didn't suspect anything, but because of our history with Dylan she ordered this specialized ultrasound. And as fate would have it, our little baby boy has 2 small holes in his heart. They may close up on their own before he is born, but if they don't we will know it right away. Apparently small holes are a lot louder than big holes in infants, so we will be able to hear the murmur on day 1 or 2 of his life. These shouldn't be a big problem, and if they don't affect the function of his heart, then the doctors won't do anything to fix them. So we will just wait and see. We will take the baby in for an ECHO when he is 1 month old to see what is really going on in his little heart.
This path is familiar for us, and initially we were surprised that we'd have to deal with this again, but we are very thankful that this doesn't appear to be a big issue. So for now we know that we'll have 2 boys that have to go see a cardiologist. Good thing we like her!
This blog will continue to focus on Dylan, but we will update with the outcome of our baby's ECHO when he is born.
.jpg)
What a fun surprise to read about your good news! And Dylan is such a beautiful boy. I'm glad to know he is doing well. I like being able to know how he is.
ReplyDeleteWe sure miss you guys! I keep trying to convince Dave we should move to your neck of the woods.