Finally some good news :) UPDATES!!!!

I'm approaching 24weeks on Sunday, it's crazy!?!?! We FINALLY had our appointment yesterday at Riverside to meet with our Pediatric Cardiologist from Children's, Dr. Weller. He performed the fetal echocardiogram (fancy ultrasound) of Ethan's tiny heart. The vessels were so tiny they were measuring less than millimeter's in size. It was also during Ethan's "wake time" so it was quite entertaining. We finally got some good news (which is about time!!). Ethan's heart defect is called a "balanced complete Atrioventricular Septal Defect". Dr. Weller informed us that this is the best possible senerio for this type of congenital heart defect, meaning he will only probably undergo 1 open heart surgery between 4-6 months of age.

Atrioventricular septal defects (AVSD) are a relatively common family of congenital heart defects.m AVSD or endocardial cushion defects, account for about 5 percent of all congenital heart disease, and are most common in infants with Down syndrome. (About 15 percent to 20 percent of newborns with Down syndrome have an atrioventricular septal defects). AVSD is a heart defect involving the valves between the heart's upper and lower chambers and the walls between the chambers. This results in formation of a hole in the center of the heart and a large single valve between the upper and lower heart chambers. The holes allow blood from the heart's left side to enter the heart's right side. This results in a large amount of blood that the right side of the heart must pump again to the lungs. The heart has to work much harder than normal to pump enough blood out to the body. The workload is further increased by leakage of the heart valve.

We also had another anatomy/growth ultrasound, which looked great. Nothing has changed or gotten worse. They were so kind to do a few 3D scans and we also got a little video clip of Ethan moving around, it was so neat!!! He is a whopping 1.5lbs and he's in the 86 percentile for his weight :)

 It was so nice to finally have gotten some good news about everything. These last few weeks have been extremely emotionally exhausting. Just when I think I have myself together, small things might just set me off for no apparent reason. I understand I will have good days and bad. I dislike the fact I have all these fears and unanswered questions. I know we will have multiple questions from here on out, but what we can do is live life to the fullest. We have some great support from our family and friends. We are so thankful for such a great support system.