Maternity photos, Children's hospital tour, Getting Close!

It's been about a couple of weeks since my last blog entry. I haven't had much to update on is why. Which isn't a bad thing!
I've had my regular twice a week OB appointments with NST. Everything has been good and normal :). They did an ultrasound to check my fluids and I got a picture of Coleman's heart for the first time...

That's something I don't have after all these ultrasounds. I'm not sure what a normal heart looks like because I've only seen his so often, but the ultrasound tech said it's obvious he's missing a chamber. And I guess it really is!  Seeing it like this makes me see how messed up it really is and makes me sad. But doesn't change anything.

We had maternity pictures taken at 35 weeks. That was fun. They turned out great! Thanks Jennifer, Delicate Details Photography :). Here are a few of them

Yesterday was a full long day for me. I had a doctor appointment in the morning and we toured the children's hospital and met the surgeon in the afternoon.
My appointment went good. They did an ultrasound instead of a NST. Coleman's estimated weight is 7lbs! Big boy! This is great for him of course because of surgery, but also because another thing wrong is the umbilical cord is missing an artery (normally there are 2 arteries and 1 vein), and this can make the baby not grow at the right rate. This isn't related to his heart though. But they said this baby is growing great! He's in a high percentile for weight :)

Our appointment to tour Children's Hospital of Atlanta (CHOA)/or Egleston, was at 3. We picked up our moms at lunch time to come with us and we headed on. The hospital is just over an hour from where we live, plus traffic. We stopped and ate,got there at 3, and waited to meet the surgeon. We met with Dr. Kogon. He was very nice and soft spoken. He explained the first surgery to us in some detail to help us understand. He explained the some basics of the other 2 surgeries, but focused on the first surgery. He gave us the run down on a few things, even some of the sad things. but he was very kind about it all. He said the average hospital stay for this is 20 days. I was kind of surprised it's so short, but good to hear. He said Coleman will go home on a feeding tube, which we already knew. He asked if we had any questions. I asked what their survival rate is there. He said it's about 88%, which is good because I had read less in other places. And he also said it's higher than the national average by just a few numbers. I asked if he would be the one doing the surgery or if it would be a whoever is on call thing. He said since he's the one we've met with he would be the one doing the surgery and most everything will be through him. It's nice to know we've met with the person who's going to have our son's life in his hands. Dr. Kogon was really nice and seems excited about what he does. That was assuring.
We then toured the cardiac unit with a nurse practitioner. We saw the cardiac intensive care unit (CICU). This is where Coleman will be as soon as he gets there. They will watch him and make sure they have him and everything ready for surgery. They do the surgery on the floor above where the operating rooms are. He will be back in the CICU after surgery to be monitored at all times. They allow 2 visitors back with him, so me and Matt will be able to sit with him almost whenever we want. We got to see a baby that was hooked up to everything that he will be. It was sad, but good to be prepared. The nurses are one on one with those babies and it was nice to know they are well taken care of and watched.
We then saw the Step Down Unit. This is like a normal, private hospital room. They will put Coleman there when he is almost ready to go home. We will be able to stay the whole time and overnight with Coleman there. This is more of a place to stay so that the parents can learn what they're going to have to do at home to take care of everything baby will need. It prepares the parents to go home with baby. The nurse helps teach you what to do and the doctor still comes by to check on baby.
Everyone and everything seemed really nice there. I feel comfortable going there for this huge soon upcoming event :)

Another thing I'm excited about is getting to participate in some HLHS research that is hopefully happening soon! This is a HUGE thing! Congenital heart defects barely get any funding as it is. So I'm very excited about it. But I'll post more about that later when I get some things put through with it. Here's an article on the research
http://mayoresearch.mayo.edu/mayo/research/hypoplastic-left-heart-syndrome/regenerative-strategies.cfm



Coleman will be here SOON! I'm ready to meet this little wiggler that's in my belly and really see what he looks like! And can't wait to give him so much love :)
Thank you for everyone's continuous support and prayers!