Another update...

Two posts in one month, that is pushing it for this gal! Update on baby girl #2: We had another scan today and got to meet with the cardio specialist. Not much new info, but some. They feel the main problem is still in the aortic arch. It could be three different things though with the arch. Best case scenario is in my terms is that it mild coarctation, with that they most likely could put in a balloon to open it up, or surgically fix it another way. The other possibility is an interrupted aortic arch, which is more serious and basically the aorta isn't attached at a certain spot, so they would use meds right after she is born to keep everything open until hey can go in and basically build it all back together. Bryn wouldn't cooperate so they couldn't get a good picture of the whole area, and therefore we still don't know which scenario we are dealing with. We will go back next month, take more pics and hope to know exactly what to expect. I will deliver at OU Children's, be induced so we can plan and have all the doctors there to take care of her. While she will have to have surgery to fix it, we are thankful it can be fixed, and that we live somewhere with great medical care. The smaller problems in the heart, the VSD's are hopefully small enough they will either close on their own, not be an issue, or can be fixed while they repair her aorta. The kidneys do not seem to be an issue we have to worry about now. There are two, one is just in her pelvis. So as she grows we will se specialist for that and just figure out if they are both functioning or if they one in her pelvis is going to be a problem. The abnormal chromosome issue seems to still kinda be unresolved but they do know now they are from an extra X chromosome. It is nothing from Bart or I, just something that happened in her development. So we will just continue to pray it turns out to be nothing. They feel most likely it won't be an issue, something we may have never even known about had we not done an AMNIO and this type of genetic testing. After she is born and growing, we will watch her and see if any delays happen, if they do, then meet with a genetic doctor from there. Still lots of unknowns,but lots of answered prayers too! We feel much better about her quality of life, we feel that we are in good hands with Dr. Ward and whomever he will set us up with. We are expecting that the rest of the pregnancy should be normal with just some extra doctors and scans thrown in. Other than her heart she seems to be growing well, measuring well and should arrive towards the end of September. We are so thankful for the prayers and kind words as we have been waiting for more answers. We know how blessed we are that things aren't worse. We ask for continued prayers for Bryn as she grows, for the doctors we will be working with and for MY anxious heart. I have always had faith God will equip us for whatever we are thrown, but I have been struggling with just accepting what we have been thrown. My need to control things keeps getting shut down, and its a big lesson for me to learn. I don't like hard lessons, ha. I hope to update again before our next appointment, but if not, hope you all have a great June. God is Good. Blessings and Love, brooke (bart, berkley and bryn too)

tick tick tick...

Man time flies when you aren't a good blogger, and you're busy, and you mainly just don't know where to start... We have had an interesting last few weeks. We were very excited to find out we are having a second baby girl at the end of September. We have decided to name her Bryn Victoria. Im about 24 weeks and so a little over halfway there. This has been such a different pregnancy from Berkley, it is unreal! I was so thankful to not be sick this time around but now looking back a few weeks, I would trade it for all the doctor visits and unknowns we have been facing. Pretty quickly after we found out Bryn was a SHE, we also found out that she has some health issues. We feel pretty confident, as of today at least, that it will not be a genetic issue we are dealing with. If it is genetic, it will hopefully be on the more mild side rather than what we were initially facing. Now we are focusing on meeting with specialists who can help with the specific organ problems, mainly the heart and kidney (not two, just one). We meet with Dr. Ward next week and very much are hopeful he can shed more light on the exact problems, how severe they are, and what steps we will be taking from here. One doctor seems to lean towards it being 'plumbing' issues that can all be fixed, including her heart issues. We are prayerful that, that comes true. I never thought id be praying for just heart surgery for my child, but I am! We ask for prayers as we move forward into the scary unknown. There are still some issues with chromosome abnormalities that are being tested, and tested, and so we also ask for prayers of clarity in this issue. I'm horrible with unknowns so week after week to be told they need more blood, we do more testing, we do an amnio, etc., and to get no definite answers has been very hard. I have been blessed with lots of stories of great outcomes, knowing that things could be much worse, but when its you going thru the storm...its still hard. We are so very thankful that we have the medical access we do here in the US and here near where we live. We hope to be able to deliver here, and to get treatment here, as it would mean its all more common issues and that Dr. Ward could handle it all. But, if we have to be somewhere else we know that it would be the best place for Bryn. Thank you for the prayers and love being sent our way and on our behalf. Bart ran in the Memorial Marathon and Berk, her aunt LaLa and I went out to cheer him on. She thought it was pretty fun. She LOVES to eat spaghetti! Blowing bubbles, coloring and painting are among her fav activities. She likes to wear my jewelry, so we put one of her clip on bows, on her ear like an earring. She was beaming. Pretty much every morning she comes to our bed and watches cartoons while mommy takes a few minutes to wake up. This would be her normal pose. She doesn't look like she loved it, but she got to ride a pony at her friend Morgan's birthday party...she kept asking to go for another ride. Berkley is almost 2 1/2, busy as every, sassy as can be and has more energy than I can keep up with. She is such a joy to watch. I of course think she is the smartest 2 year old around, and maybe the cutest. :) We are working on her big girl room, and even though she doesn't really care, is happy in her crib still, its fun to think about having both my girls in their rooms one day. God is Good. Blessings, Brooke