Graysen at 32 Weeks

This is a picture from Graysen's ultrasound yesterday. He is four pounds and is growing well. We did not learning anything new yesterday. The doctor cannot confirm which artery is small (aorta or pulmonary) and cannot confirm if it is connected to the heart or not. In either event, Graysen will require an artificial artery. If it is a small pulmonary artery, they will do the Rastelli procedure with a homograph. If it is a small aorta, they will do a modified version of the Norwood procedure. Due to the fact that both procedure require an artificial artery to be inserted, Graysen will require at least three surgeries. One will occur at birth, one at approximately one year old, and one around 5-8 years. There may be a fourth depending on if they can put in an adult sized artery at the third surgery. The number of surgeries arises from the fact that the artificial artery will not grow as Graysen grows. We are hoping that the small artery is the pulmonary artery because it is easier to fix and has better survival rates than a small aorta. This was our last cardiologist visit until Graysen is born. There is nothing more that they can do until he is born. Now the focus is shifting to predicting labor and delivery to ensure that we arrive in Charleston on time. The induction is scheduled for January 28th, but both of my ob's in Spartanburg (routine care and high risk) are skeptical. They are not sure that I will make it to week 39 because I only made it to week 37.5 with Caleb. For Graysen's sake, we are hoping that he delivers on the 28th. He needs to be as fat as possible since he will not be able to eat until after the surgery. So, I am taking it easy to help keep blood pressure down and help prevent contractions.