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.