Gracelyn's Story: Gracelyn's echo and Fetal echo appointment...

Our Story

Jeff and Andee were married in 2003. We were both born and raised in Utah. We have three sweet children. During a 23 week check up with our second child, the baby was diagnosed with Pulmonary Stenosis, a heart defect. She was born on December 16, 2009 when the doctors discovered she actually had Pulmonary Atresia, Tricuspid Atresia and Atrial Ectopic Tachycardia. After she was born she stayed at Primary Children's Medical Center for three weeks. During that time she had a BT Shunt and stent placed in her heart.

On June 4, 2010, Gracelyn received her Glenn shunt. During that time they removed her BT shunt and stent. She is doing great! The next step will be the Fontan procedure some time after she turns two.

We intend for this blog to keep family and friends aware of what's going on as our story progresses. We have learned so much and found strength from the blogs and websites of those that have previously gone through this that we want to share our story for those who will unfortunately face this as well, as there is currently no cure for Congenital Heart Disease. We are grateful for all the prayers on our behalf.

UPDATE: July 2013: Gracelyn was scheduled to have her Fontan this summer. Doctors feel like she is doing so great it can be postponed until next summer. We have recently contacted the Children's Hospital of Boston for second opinion. They believe they have an alternative to the Fontan. In September we will head to Boston to see what they can do for her.

UPDATE: April 2015- Gracelyn had her Fontan surgery on April 27, 2015. She flew through the procedure and recovery. It didn't happen immediately, but by day two she was a beautiful shade of pink.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Gracelyn's echo and Fetal echo appointment...

On March 8 we had our two-for-one appointment at Primary's. Gracelyn had her 4 month check up and we had an echo done on the new baby. I always hated my fetal echos with Gracelyn. They are so uncomfortable. Laying on your back for at least an hour with some one pushing at every angle of your belly isn't pleasant. This time was at least an hour and a half. The baby wouldn't cooperate at all. ( I think this is why the picture looks like I want to scream, "Get me out of here.") Gracelyn wasn't exactly easy either. We were told that it was sedated, but when we got there they said it was just a limited echo and that they wouldn't need to sedate her. She didn't want to be there in the first place and starving her didn't help the situation. She cried the entire time. Great news is that Gracelyn's echo was good. She is sating low and we were told to monitor her for a few weeks. I'm not sure what we will do if she continues to stay low, but we were told to contact our cardiologists. The fetal echo also looked GREAT! It was such a relief to hear. We were told we could still have defects like holes in the heart (although it didn't look that way), but nothing compared to what we have been through with Grace. All the valves were working and the size was perfect. We are so excited for our new little one! I can't believe my BABY will be a big sister. Weird!!!