Adam's Heart

We are very lucky. When I was pregnant with my first son, Adam, my 18-week ultrasound showed what my doctor called a "possible ventricular septal defect" and after many more ultrasounds my obstetrician said when my son was born they would look at his heart before we were released. They did not look at his heart. They listened to it and said it was fine. In 24 hours we were released. In the early weeks of Adam's life he was always sleepy/sleeping. I set the timer on my stove to wake up and breastfeed him every 1 1/2 to 2 hours. He was so hard to wake. I had breastfed my three girls before him so I knew some babies were sleepy and I did every trick I could to wake him so I could feed him. At Adam's one month check he was finally in the Deers program and in Tricare and I took him to the base pediatrician where we were stationed for the first time. Before that he had seen a civilian pediatrician. I told the new doctor about my pregnancy and how they were supposed to look at his heart at the hospital but did not. The doctor said his heart sounded fine, but he was breathing a little fast. That wonderful Air Force doctor sent us to a cardiologist. The cardiologist said our son had an small ASD, and a larger VSD. We moved to Virginia from Kansas two weeks later and followed up with a cardiologist. She said, "That's a big hole!" She said no one could hear the murmur because the hole was so big the blood wasn't making a noise swishing through it. Our wonderful doctor here in Virginia told us the warning signs of heart failure, which I had never heard of before, she put our son on medicine and she watched him. When Adam was 3 months and 22 days old he had an appointment with his cardiologist, he had lost one ounce of weight, just one ounce, and she said it was time for surgery. She told us on December 23, 2011 that he definitely needed open-heart surgery to save his life. On December 28th Duke called me to set it up. On January 10, 2012 we drove to Duke. Adam had open-heart surgery on January 12, 2012 and he came home on January 16, 2012. Today Adam is 17-months old, he is still breastfeeding (he has never had formula, we made it through everything with breastfeeding) and he receives Physical Therapy and Speech Therapy through Early Intervention. Adam isn't walking but he cruises, he has a few words and he is just starting to eat foods finally.I love him more than words can say.