April 12, 2007 - Amniocentesis

We had our ultrasound this morning and our baby GIRL! (the only good news of the morning) has a hypoplastic left heart with aortic stenosis. The left side of her heart is very small but there is a very small amount of blood flowing through it. The right side of the heart looks great. It's bigger than usual but it's doing a good job pumping blood to her body for now. The size of her head and long bones are only in the 10th percentile and her feet are slightly rounded at the bottom. These things could indicate a chromosomal defect such as Turner's Syndrome or Trisomy 18. Chromosomal defects occur in 3-10% of babies with hypoplastic left heart so the Dr. also did an amniocentesis. We'll get the unofficial results tomorrow morning and the official results take about a week to get back. Tuesday morning we're going to see a pediatric cardiologist from Children's. From what the Dr. said today, about 80% of babies diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart in utero are born alive. After birth the survival rate is about 75-80% because of all the heart surgeries they require. Please pray for us as we await the results of the amniocentesis- that it would come back normal with no chromosomal defects. We will continue to keep everyone update and thanks so much to everyone who has been praying for us and our baby.