I can’t tell you how many times we’ve had to go over the details with people today, but here’s the latest situation with Baby David.

Amy and I went to UAB Wedensday for what, we thought, was supposed to be a simple ultrasound to see what was causing David’s irregular heartbeat.  We’ve been told it’s not unusual and that he’d probably grow out of it.  That seems to no longer be the case.

Dr. Jenkins spent about an hour Wednesday looking over him.  The ultrasound showed no irregular heartbeat, and we thought we’re about out of the woods.  Turns out something far worse was around the corner.

She decided to hold us for the night to monitor him for long periods of time.  She also set us up to see the pediatric cardiologist today.  When Dr. Johnson took over, he also took about an hour and calmly talked about what he was seeing.

Baby David’s right ventricle is smaller and the walls are thicker than his left.  The valves are smaller, and the one that allows blood to pump into his lungs is just about closed up.  Blood is still getting through, but his heart is working very hard to push it.

The good news is the left side of the heart is normal.  If it weren’t, they’d be performing surgery while he’s still in the womb.  Because it’s the right side (and I’m not getting into all the specifics here … just please accept it), they want him to grow as much as possible inside Amy.

After he is born (and they want him to be delivered at UAB two weeks before the due date), he will undergo one, two or all of three procedures.  The first will be to open the valve to the lung with a balloon.  The second will be one of two surgeries (one could be open heart).  The third … he actually wouldn’t give us any details for our comfort.  They will just “work around the blockages.”

We’re very thankful for the calm demeanor Dr. Johnson had because we’d probably be freaking out a little more than we are right now.  He drew a couple of hearts up to show us exactly what he was talking about.  He took an unbelievable amount of time with us and answered everything.

So … what now?  A lot of prayer.  There is nothing we can do except that.  No, we are not doing too well right now.  I’m not going to sugarcoat it.  However, we have faith in God that He will somehow make this all work out.

This is a very serious condition, and we’ve talked about all the worst case scenarios, as well as the best results.  God has a plan for David even though we don’t see it right now.  No matter what, we love David, and we love and put our trust in God.

We welcome comments (especially prayers!) if you’d like to offer one, but we prefer not to talk openly about this anymore. It’s already heavily on our hearts and minds.  I just wanted to keep you updated and will continue to do so.