32 weeks and counting

Yesterday we went to see the pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Cotton for our second echocardiogram of our son's heart. Dr. Cotton confirmed that Ethan still has HLHS (Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome) and spent over an hour and a half with us, being very thorough with his exam and explanation of what he was seeing on the echo, then in describing the series of 3 heart surgeries that our son will be having.

His first surgery is called the Norwood Procedure, and it will most likely occur when Ethan's about 3-5 days old. The surgery involves stitching the large pulmonary artery together with the small aorta, to make a new larger aorta. Then a small tube (shunt) is temporarily put in place to connect the artery going to the lungs with the new aorta. Then the wall that separates the top two heart chambers is removed (this is called an atrial septectomy), allowing blood to flow between the two atrium. The narrowing of the aorta is then opened and the connecting blood vessel is removed. As a result, this surgery helps the heart bypass the underdeveloped left ventricle, allowing the oxygenated blood to reach the body.

Even though we had heard all this detailed explanation from Dr. Cotton nearly 13 weeks ago, it was great to have him take his time with us and not make us feel rushed! We are thankful to have such a great doctor on our son's medical team and look forward to working with him for years to come!