Finally some answers

We meet with Dr. Pharis this morning to talk about the procedure. What they were looking for and sign the consent form. It was nerve wrecking as Dr. Pharis was hoping that if they found this stenosis he hoped that it wasn't total stenosed veins as if they were there was absolutely nothing they would be able to do for them as it they were total stenosis 'ed they would be small from tip to tip and the lung side goes deep into the lungs where they can't fix as the lung is very spongy delicate tissue. The procedure was to take approximately 2 1/2 - 3 hours long.

They needed to sedate and paralyze her for the procedure. So we waited on pins and needles as the hours went by. Finally a little over 4 hours later They came in to tell us that she was on her way back up and that it went well.
We sat down with Dr. Kakadekar and he explained that they were able to get everywhere they wanted to except for one pulmonary vein (top right). She did need a transfusion of 60 cc. Which apparently is quite a bit for a little one. He said however that her stenosis is very small, but that they where able to tell that her lower right pulmonary vein had formed to the right atrium instead of the left where it should be. The PDA was still very large, she also has what they think is a medium/large ASD (however it looks to be shunting the blood flow in the wrong direction), really high pressures in her lungs and pulmonary artery. They were fairly certain however that the "shelf" in her aorta (coarctation of aorta) isn't causing any major problems. 
Because of the fact that they weren't able to see the top right pulmonary vein and where it was going to, they wanted to do a CT scan to reconstruct her heart and confirm the cath results. 
It was a huge relief as he was very convincing that it all sounded fixable, and she was going to be fine. 
  
Angiogram
Pulmonary Vein Stenosis
Coarctation of Aorta
ASD 
PDA
TAPVR/ PAPVR
Pulmonary Hypertension

The Unexpected

It's been a few days since Erica was born and things seem to be both good and bad. 
Erica's been feeding nicely and gaining her weight back ( she lost 23 % of her birth weight she was 2 lbs 9 oz) I have been mainly pumping these few day's but my supply is great (according to the nurses) 


It was noted that Erica was not only a IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction) baby because of a poorly placed placenta (attached to a septum and baby B's sac), but her cord was a 2 vessel cord instead of 3, and the placenta was detaching from the wall (hence the reasoning behind my bleeding and clotting), and the placenta didn't look healthy at all, which indicated that there could be a problem with her heart/kidneys/stomach and a bunch of other things in her abdomen.

Erica  had an echo done do to having a "molted" look to her body. They found that she has a heart condition in which she has a "shelf" in her Aorta coming from the heart (Coarctation of Aorta) Aortic coarctation is a narrowing of part of the aorta (the major artery leading out of the heart) The aorta carries blood from the heart to the vessels that supply the body with blood and nutrients. If part of the aorta is narrowed, it is hard for blood to pass through the artery (it's on the other side of the arteries going to her brain, which is good as the blood flow is great to her brain) 


However she also has a large PDA (*Patent Ductus Arteriosus* abnormal blood flow occurs between two of the major arteries connected to the heart. These arteries are the aorta and the pulmonary artery. Before birth, these arteries are connected by a blood vessel called the ductus arteriosus. This blood vessel is a vital part of fetal blood circulation. Within minutes or up to a few days after birth, the ductus arteriosus closes. This change is normal in newborns. In some babies, however, the ductus arteriosus remains open (patent). The opening allows oxygen-rich blood from the aorta to mix with oxygen-poor blood from the pulmonary artery. This can strain the heart and increase blood pressure in the lung arteries )

With the two heart conditions it's been causing low blood pressure to her left side including her kidney's and such. 

Good news is that Dr. Tyrell a pediatric cardiologist doesn't think that we need surgery for it, right now and would like to see first what signs she'll show. So we are to wait and see what the shelf will do when the ductus closes on itself.

They also took blood work and sent it to the Labs in B.C for Chromosome testing, and did ultrasounds on her brain/abdomen and back.

All the ultrasounds came back great! No brain problems and good blood flow. No abdominal issues, and no Spinal issues or openings.

Her chromosomal blood work came back great as well! No downs, spina bifida or any other chromosomal problems.

So all in all she's so far healthy we only have to work on getting her off of the tube feedings, gaining some more weight so she can hold her own body temp, and hopefully figure out her heart thing which it seems that it's not too big of a problem just something to keep an eye on.

We still aren't too sure when we are able to bring her home.