Last and final ultrasound!

We had our last and final ultrasound today and at 37 weeks and 1 day, Daylen has reached 7lbs and 1 oz! He still has 2 weeks to go so he will be the perfect healthy size for surgery! I am relieved to know that he has gained so much since last time but this explains why i'm having trouble getting comfortable at night!! oh the pregnancy joys! :)

At my last check up with my regular OB last week, they had checked my cervix and found that it hadn't done anything so far...However.... We discovered today that Daylen has finally dropped so there has been some progression! I've been experiencing lots of sharp stabbing pains so hopefully things are starting to take its natural course!

Growth & Development

As of week 34, Daylen weighs 4 lbs and 13 oz and has a little more than 4 weeks to go until he says hello to the world! Joy! As noted before, Daylen had been 8 oz bigger due to my gestational diabetes, but since I have been on a diet plan, he is back at the weight that he should be during his gestational period. Thats a good thing! I'm guessing he's going to be about 7 lbs when he is born as long as I stick to my diet! The ultrasound tech tried showing us another 4D of his face, but Daylen is face down in my womb so the most we could see was the side of his face again.

The next growth and development session will be in 3 weeks so I can't wait to see how my lil monster has grown!

Last Echocardiogram

During our last echocardiogram, the cardiologist showed us the significant difference between his left and right chambers, and from what we saw - his left chamber is so small and barely exists! The mitral valve is closed and not functioning. The second artery that was found on the last echo that comes out of right chamber may have a reverse blood flow but it is not exactly known yet.

Once Daylen is born, he will have an echo done on him by the cardiologists and he will have tests ran on him to see what his oxygen levels are. We are still hoping that the 2nd artery is a good thing!

Meeting the Heart Surgeon

Today we met the heart surgeon who will be performing the surgery on Daylen. He went over the diagnosis and explained to us the basics of it just like every other person on the heart team has done. It's good that we constantly get re-educated on this syndrome because it helps put us at second nature with it. The surgeon was really easy going and made me feel good rather than sad about this entire situation. Since my induction date is November 10th, the surgery will most likely be on that following Monday. So lets hope that baby Daylen can hold out until then!

PICU Tour

Today we had the chance to take a tour of the PICU over in the Peyton Manning's Children Hospital at St. Vincent. While in the PICU, we caught a glimpse of a newly born HLHS baby right after surgery. The amount of tubes and IV's that were hanging out of this baby was really overwhelming to see. I have never seen so many tubes coming out of such a little person! I am not really sure if I am ready to see that on my own baby. It's a sad sight.

When Daylen goes into the PICU after surgery, only two people will be allowed at a time to see him, and unfortunately for friends and extended family, only the parents of Dave and I will be able to see him while he's in the PICU. The PICU stay is anywhere up to 10 days. After this, he will be moved back to the NICU for the rest of his recovery where a selected number of friends and family can come see him.