VSD

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Our little Molly is a little over two weeks old now. She is back to her birth weight and has grown almost a full inch. Her growth is actually pretty remarkable and better then both her pediatrician and cardiologist expected so we are very happy.

Yesterday she had her second appointment with her cardiologist. Molly has VSD ( Ventricle Septal Defect) which is a hole in the wall separating the two lower chambers of the heart. In normal development the wall between the chambers closes before the fetus is born so that by birth oxygen rich blood is kept from mixing with the oxygen poor blood. When the hole does not close, it may cause higher pressure in the heart or reduced oxygen to the body. Although this is pretty common Molly's hole is rather large, measuring 8mm by 3mm. Because her hole is so large her cardiologist is afraid that it won't be able to close up on it's own. At her appointment yesterday we decided that we would start her on medications that would help keep her lungs from filling up with fluid and hopefully keep her heart from working so hard. She will be on those for the next three months and the cardiologist will continue to monitor her heart and look for signs that the hole is going to close on it's own. If it doesn't close on it's own she will eventually have surgery. The risk of death and complications for children who have this surgery before 3 months is rather high so they won't do any type of surgery before 3 months. 

So what does that mean for us right now? Well first of all we are waiting for some tests to come back to make sure her liver is working properly and if all is well then we will start her on medication Monday and we will continue to monitor her heart. We will watch for things like heavy breathing, no weight gain, enlarged liver, sweating, fatigue and trouble eating. If she has a lot of those problems then we will know her condition is getting worse. Basically right now we are just playing the waiting game and hoping for the best. 

We are a little concerned but at this point anything could happen and we know her Heavenly Father is watching over her and will also help us make the right decisions for her future.

Molly Wilcoxson

Our little lady arrived Sunday at 6:48 p.m. and weighed 6 lbs and 4 oz. She was 37 weeks and 2 days. 

Now I will try and recount the birth experience but the craziness of it all made it really feel like an out of body experience so hopefully I can remember everything.

Friday I went to the Dr. and found out that I was still 5cm dialated. I had been there since at least Monday so I figured I would just stay there for awhile and hopefully Molly would come before the 11th. In order to try and induce my labor I raked leaves all afternoon Friday, cleaned the church Saturday morning and then helped Nathan and a friend unload 6000 lbs of mulch for a garden. I figured if all that didn't get Molly here she wasn't coming anytime soon. 

Well to no avail Saturday night and all morning Sunday I had no contractions. Because I wasn't having any contractions I told Nathan we should take the boys to the park Sunday afternoon. The park is a little over a mile away so I figured it would be a nice little walk. We left the house about 5:30. As soon as we started walking the contractions started. They came on really fast and hard the whole walk to the park but as soon as we got to the park they slowed down so I figured it was just from walking. After about 10 minutes at the park I told Nathan I needed to go home so we headed home. About 5 minutes into our walk home I asked Nathan if he could run home and get the van because walking was getting to hard. Nathan sprinted home and grabbed the van while I continued to slowly walk back to the house. On the way back I sent a text to our Dr. telling her that I thought I might be in labor but wasn't sure. I sent the text at almost exactly 6 pm. It seemed like it took forever but Nathan finally came back with the van and I jumped in. By this time the contractions were excruciating but I still wasn't 100 percent sure this was it so I filled up the tub and hoped in while Nathan very frantically called a friend to come get the boys, called the Dr. and packed a few last minute things. Our Dr. told us to meet her at the hospital but by this time I really couldn't move. I told Nathan to have her meet us at the house because I couldn't move and I was pretty sure I could feel Molly. We are so lucky she lives only a few minutes away. 

As soon as Tia got to the house she checked me and said the baby will be here in 20 minutes so we need to get to the hospital. The problem was I really couldn't move. She gave me the option of getting in the van or calling 911. I felt like it would have been a little dramatic to call 911 so with the help of Nathan and Tia I got in the van. By this time I really though I was going to die and we were going to have a baby in the van, neither one of which is a good option. Luckily Nathan was driving like a pure maniac to get us to the hospital, he even spent some time driving and passing people in the turning lane. While on the short drive to the hospital my water broke and I was ready to push. I could feel that she was ready to enter the world. Luckily we had a wheelchair in the car because we had gotten it from Tia the day before to loan to a friend but hadn't dropped it off yet. 

Nathan pulled into the emergency room and Tia helped me into the wheelchair. Tia then sprinted up to labor and delivery while Nathan parked the car. As soon as I got to labor and delivery I was ready to push and in an extreme amount of pain. There was literally no break in between the contractions. Unfortunately Nathan was still parking the car and trying to get into the hospital. They had stopped him at the emergency room and tried to make him register me in. He just signed a blank paper handed them my ID and took off for labor and delivery. The nurse was out in the hall waiting for him so she could show him where the room was. As soon as Nathan stepped in the door I gave Molly everything I had and one long excruciatingly painful push later she was here. There was a total of 4 minutes between the time I arrived at the hospital and the time that Molly was delivered and a total of 30 minutes from the time Nathan called the Dr. to the time Molly was delivered. It was one crazy experience and we are so glad she made it safely and we made it to the hospital. I am pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to make it through that experience with out Nathan, our good friend and Dr. Tia, and the wonderful labor and delivery nursers. It took about an hour after the delivery for Nathan and I to process everything that had just happened and settle down from the experience but we are so happy Molly is here and we are absolutely smitten and I hope to NEVER have a labor and delivery experience like that again.