Miracles Do Happen!

It has been a while since our last post and we have certainly had an eventful couple of weeks! Our first week down here was fairly uneventful, just some unpacking and getting situated. On July 4 we had a little barbeque with a few of JM's coworkers. Throughout the day I became a little concerned because I hadn't really felt the baby move. I decided around 5:30 to take a ride to the hospital and just get checked out to ease my mind. I thought I would go in and everything would be fine, I would feel a little silly but at least be reassured. Boy was I wrong! They hooked us up to the monitor and immediately something didn't sound right. They they did an ultrasound and discovered that our son had developed a condition called SVT (Super Ventricular Tachycardia). Basically his little heart was beating twice as fast as is considered normal, and his heart was rapidly losing its ability to function properly. He had also developed a condition called hydrops. He was retaining a whole bunch of fluid because of his heart failure. They quickly decided to send us to Duke University Medical Center in Durham, which is about 2 hours from where we live. They are better equipped to deal with these types of high risk situations. They were basically telling us at that point that they were likely going to have to deliver the baby and that he had a very low chance of survival. So that was a really bad time for us. We were taken by ambulance to Duke and were given a little glimmer of hope when they told us they wanted to try a medication regiment first before considering delivery. He was just too young and sick at that point to have much of a fighting chance. So they started the medication, which I had to take at much higher doses than is normal so it would have a better chance of crossing over to the baby. They had to monitor us both very closely to make sure that my heart rate wasn't badly effected and also to make sure that his was getting better. After severaly days of worry we started to see some progress. Eventually over the course of the next week his heart rate was able to convert back to a normal rate! So after 9 days in the hospital they released us with an intensive outpatient after care plan. So we now see a cardiologist 2-3 times a week as well as a maternal fetal medicine specialist. The baby's heart is making slow but steady progress. They hydrops is still there, but they say that may take several weeks to resolve. We are seeing the MFM doctor tomorrow to check up on that. I truly believe that God has given us a miracle with this baby! When we were sent to Duke, we were basically told that our son wasn't going to survive. A little over a week later we were being sent home because of all of the progress that was made. The doctors and nurses at Duke are wonderful, but I firmly believe that God has held our son in his hands and given him the miracle of healing! We still have a way to go on the road to recovery, but we are very thankful that we have made it to this point. He is moving around like a little maniac, so that lets me know that he is feeling better. (He was barely moving when he was sick.) I have to continue to take the meds until he is delivered and he will have to be on medication and closely monitored for at least the first year of his life. Will update again when we have more info!