Fetal Echo

Yesterday was my fetal echo at Duke.  If you remember, we scheduled one in order to rule out congenital heart disease since Tyler was born with ASD (Atrial Septal Defect). 

Every baby at birth has a hole in their heart.  In fact, yesterday through the ultrasound I saw this baby’s hole in his heart which was a great visual for me to understand.  In the womb, there is a flap that open and closes over the hole (also saw this on the ultrasound) and when the baby is born, the flap should cover the hole completely.  In 25% of the cases, the flap either does not cover the hole or the flap is not large enough to cover the hole. So, an atrial septal defect (ASD) is a hole in the part of the septum that separates the atria (the upper chambers of the heart). This hole allows oxygen-rich blood from the left atrium to flow into the right atrium instead of flowing into the left ventricle as it should.

Most children with ASD have no signs or symptoms and never need treatment.  And we have every reason to think that Tyler’s hole will close on its own, which most commonly it does as children grow.  When Tyler turned 3, we went back to have an echo done; however you can imagine how uncooperative he was at his age!  So, really there is no way to tell if his hole has completely closed yet or not.  We will go back when he turns 5 or 6 and is hopefully more cooperative.   But in the meantime, there are really no major risks at this point.

So, on to my fetal echo.  Everything was just fine.  In fact, it was so good that the cardiologist was using the ultrasound echo as a teaching point to the tech.  (Duke is a teaching hospital).  Hello Grey’s Anatomy.  So, not only did I get peace of mind that his heart is fine, but I got another sneak peak of “no name” baby boy!  And I even caught a little snooze on the bed in between the echo and the dr coming in :)  The cardiologist sees no reason to see me or the baby unless his pediatrician finds something after birth. 

The other issue my little redhead had upon birth that has nothing to do with the heart was a maternal to fetal hemorrhage.   If you came to visit me in the hospital, this is why he was in the oxygen bubble for 5 days.  In a nutshell, there was a tear in my placenta which was causing the blood to transfer to me and not to Tyler, so he was born anemic.  My doctor has said that there is no reason to assume the same will happen this time.  It was likely a random thing that happened.