Heart Month Day 2: Diagnosis

Mira’s heart problem was first discovered when she was 4 mo old and went to the hospital with RSV. The echo tech couldn’t locate her left pulmonary artery (surprise! She didn’t have one). She was dx with absent left pulmonary artery, med ventricular septal defect, and pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Patrick’s heart problem was first discovered when I was 18 weeks pregnant, but they didn’t have an “official” diagnosis until a week after he was born. He had truncus arteriosus with discontinuous pulmonary arteries and a hypoplastic left ventricle. My high-risk OBGYN swore at every monthly sonogram that there was nothing wrong with him and that everyone would see he would be perfectly fine after he was born. Thank God I listened to the pediatric cardiologists instead of her. And yes, eight years on, I am *still* angry about this.