Monday, January 12, 2009

Q & A

Since I'm super bad at getting back to people when they ask questions. I figured that I would have a little Q & A.


*The First one is from Candid Carrie http://carriestuckmann.blogspot.com/

She is dying to know what happened to Oscar's Tail.
Mr. Oscar was born without a tail. The funny part about it is that my mother took one of Oscar's litter mates. Who looks just like Oscar, but who I feel has an extra long tail so I'm sticking with the story that my Mother's cat stole Oscars at some point during the 65 days the mother cat was pregnant.


* Here are a few question's from Bevy

No my life does not lack entertainment that's for sure. It's non stop from the moment everyone gets up until we go to bed.

This year our Christmas Tree was huge! This was our first Christmas in our very first home and I set out wanting to have the most prefect Christmas tree to fill the space I have had planned for it since the day we first came out to see the house. We have cathedral ceilings in the great room, so it had to be Huge or at least that is what was stuck in my head. It didn't end up being as tall as I had planned, but where it lacked in height it made up for in fullness. It was just under 8 feet tall and weighed in at 130 pounds.

Now to answer your baby questions... Avery was born a month early and was still big. I ended up finding another Doctor when I was pregnant with my second and when I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes with Bella my doctor came to the conclusion that I must have developed it after I was tested for it when I was pregnant with my first. Miss Bella was delivered 2 weeks early due to her size I cant even think about how much bigger she would have been if I would have gone another 2 weeks. My 10 pounder might have been more like an 11 pounder or more!

I think we are done having Children unless we loose our minds for a minute and think that one more would be fun. Our youngest Miss Chloe was born with 3 congenital Heart Defects we try to keep this in mind every time we even "think" about adding just one more to the mix. There is an 80% chance of having another child with heart problems. Chloe was very lucky in the fact that if you were to choose what heart problems to have she picked them just right. After watching her struggle for over a year I'm not sure we could one put another child through that nor do I think we could stand watching it again.

* Congenital Heart Defects FACTS

For those of you who know me personally I have made you sit through this countless amounts of times. For those of you who have stumbled on my blog I am now going to put you through the same thing. Only because before Chloe was born I had no idea that Congenital Heart Defects affect more children than Childhood Cancer. In fact if you don't know anyone right now that has either had a child born with a CHD or know someone who knows someone you WILL.

*How many babies are born with CHD?
Approximately 40,000 babies are born each year in the United States with a CHD. That equates to 1 out of 125 babies born with a heart defect.
It is the #1 birth defect with more occurrences than Spinal Bifida, Down syndrome or hearing loss yet many are not aware of this condition.

*How many kinds of CHD are there?
There are approximately 35 different types of congenital heart defects.
- Chloe was born with a Ventricular Septal Defect, Patent Ductus Arteriosus, and one unknown defect.

*How are congenital heart defects treated?
Today, most heart defects can be corrected or helped with surgery, medicine, or devices, such as artificial valves and pacemakers. In the last 25 years, advances in treatment of heart defects have enabled half a million U.S. children with significant heart defects to survive into adulthood.

*Is there a prenatal test for CHD?
An echocardiagram can accurately detect many heart defects. This test needs to be performed by a specialized doctor and not an obstetrician. Some heart defects can be detected through routine ultrasound.

*What causes congenital heart defect?
In most cases, scientists do not know the cause but feel both environmental and genetic factors appear to play a role.A few of the environmental factors that increase the risk are drinking alcohol and cocaine usage. Some maternal medical conditions increase the risk of fetal CHD. The most common is diabetes but not all forms will increase the risk. Women with PKU are also at risk are recommended to follow a special diet prior to pregnancy. Some studies suggest that not enough of B vitamin folic acid is taking before and during pregnancy. Some medications if taken during pregnancy increase the risk of CHD in the baby. These include isotretinoin, lithium and some anti-seizure medication. Source: March of Dimes.
Anyone with one of the risk factors mentioned above should discuss this with your OB and request a fetal echocardiogram to screen for a heart defect in the baby.If you know of someone with the above risk factors planning to have a baby, please share this information with them.



*A Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD)- is a hole in the ventricular septum - the muscular wall that separates the right and left ventricles, or main pumping chambers, of the heart.This opening allows the movement, or "shunting," of blood between the ventricles. Most commonly, oxygenated blood from the left ventricle enters the right ventricle because there is greater pressure in the left ventricle and the resistance in the lungs is significantly lower than in the body tissues. This is known as a "left to right shunt."Ventricular septal defects are the most common forms of congenital heart disease, accounting for 21% of all cases. They may be single or multiple and may occur in different parts of the ventricular septum.Small holes usually close spontaneously in the first year or two of life. Large holes almost always require surgical closure in the first year of life. VSDs may be present with other heart defects (For example, Tetralogy of Fallot.)

A Ductus Arteriosus- is a minor vessel, sometimes persisting from the fetal structure of the heart in a newborn baby, which connects the aorta to the pulmonary artery (PA in diagram).It is termed a Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) when it is open, allowing blood to flow from the aorta into the pulmonary artery. After the PDA closes, the resulting fiber-like structure is known as a ligamentum arteriosum.

Since Chloe was born I have met Countless people who either have CHD's or Children with CHD's. I even met 2 other mom's where Bella danced who's Children were born with a CHD. Those are only out of the 2 classes who's parents I saw every week. One of my Dearest friends her youngest Daughter was born with a Ventricular Septal Defect and a Atrail Septal Defect. When I met Tracy she was pregnant with her youngest and she had never heard of CHD's before she met us.

If you would like more information or have any questions about Congenital Heart Defects please feel free to either leave me a comment or send me an email. I am more than Happy to either point you in the right direction for info or to answer your questions myself.

Until Next Time,
Just MOM

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the education on heart defects - I'm so grateful that Miss Chloe is doing so well. I'm sure it was a struggle - but I'm also sure that you wouldn't trade the time with her for the world. ;)
So you have 3 children?
Thanks for the answers ... :)

Just call me MOM said...

I do have 3 children Avery is 6, Isabella is 4 and Miss Chloe turned 2 in November. I cant even remember what life was like before Chloe was born. Your welcome for the answers and Thank you for reading my blog.

Anonymous said...

After I posted that comment I went back to your blog and there were your lovely children listed. :)
I enjoy your blog ... it's fun and has lovely stories in it. :) God bless you!

SteveC said...

Just wanted to say "Hi!, Chloe!" I'm Steve, a 42 year old CHD survivor! Fight the good fight, young lady!

Steve
Adventures of a Funky Heart! Blog:
http://tricuspid.wordpress.com/