A Broken Heart

There are many things that create a foundation. One of the foundational pieces of our life is our understanding of how God works. God is in control of all. Everything that happens, therefore, is orchestrated by God. God does things for his own glory. Therefore, anything that happens, anything that is, was intended to bring glory to God. Regardless of how terrible, unfair or just plain pointless something may look as you're facing it, its grand scheme value is in the glorification of God.

This is why we continue to live.

About a week after our 20 week ultrasound, I got a call from my doctor. He reported that because the baby was breech, they didn't get a good view of the heart. He referred me to Fresno Community, for a second ultrasound on the baby, using better equipment.

I went to Fresno Community on October 17th, for the second ultrasound. During the procedure, the tech got an echocardiogram which shows the way the blood is flowing through the heart. The tech and OB/GYN there concluded that there was a defect in the heart and thought it might be Truncus Arteriosus or Transposition of the Greater Arteries. They also found the baby has a Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD), or a hole in the heart. The VSD is a common finding with major heart defects. They referred me up to Children's Hospital Central CA (CHCC) for yet further clarification.

Our appointment at CHCC was November 11th. Jason had the day off, so he was able to go too. Our ultrasound tech is specifically trained in congenital heart defects, making him specially suited for this type of situation. He quickly concluded that our baby didn't have Truncus Arteriosis nor Transposition of the Greater Arteries. He spent over an hour taking measurements, capturing video and echocardiograms, all while taking the time to explain it to us step by step. He told us what he saw, then called in a cardiologist to verify his findings and share with us in more detail.

It turns out our little baby has a variation of Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS). HLHS is a very serious heart defect. Without a series of surgeries the baby will die in the first four months of life. More information on HLHS is found here.

Because of these recent findings, we have decided to learn the gender of the baby. We wanted to be able to put a name out there for people to be praying. It's a boy! His name is Eli Ryan.

Right now our little guy is completely safe inside the womb. Since I am doing all the oxygenation for him, he is in no danger. The complications begin as soon as he is born. He will most likely have open heart surgery in the first week of life, then another at about 2 months, and a third before his fourth birthday. Until then, I am being closely monitored by a new OB/GYN in Fresno. We also will have several more ultrasounds and consultations with the Pediatric Cardiologist and Surgeons at CHCC.

We will be sure to blog any updates we are given as soon as possible.

We also understand that we have a huge network of people who surround us in love and support. Please know that if we do need anything, we will be sure to let you know. For now, the thing we are asking for is prayer.

Prayer requests:

• That the mitral valve enlarges
• The inadequacies found in the arteries and valves further down the line open and develop

Praises and thanksgiving:

• That the defect was found before birth.
• That we live so close to a top notch Children's Hospital
• That God would choose us to see His glory fulfilled

To God be the Glory,
The Wedehase family