My Son’s Heart

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To this day I still remember the moment our doctors talked to my husband and I about our sons heart condition. A little perspective as to the way I felt is a clip from the movie Miracles from Heaven. Before, this doctor appointment we had many ultrasounds but, no one would tell us what was wrong also, this was our first baby so we did not know that this many ultrasounds wasn't normal.

I remember sitting with my husband on a bench in the ultrasound room and a nurse told us to wait for the doctor because he was going to speak to us. Honestly, I knew something was coming but, never imagined the words that the doctor said would actually be true.

The doctor came in, he sat down in front of us as my husband and I held hands. He looked serious with some papers on his lap. My husband and I just waiting and waiting for whatever was about to happen. Finally words come out, the doctor says "We've found in your sons heart that he has a hole. "

I remember in that moment, time froze for me. I couldn't hear anything else or even see anything else. Hearing words like that just such small words, how can they affect someone so much?

The doctor then kept explaining to us. Well mainly to my husband because I honestly couldn't grasp anything anymore. He drew a diagram of what our sons little baby heart looked like. He said that he didn't only have a hole in his heart which is a VSD. (Ahole in the septum between the heart's two lower chambers is called a ventricular septal defect) but he said he also had Transposition of the Great Arteries as well and that is called TGA (the aorta is connected to the right ventricle, and the pulmonary artery is connected to the left ventricle — the opposite of a normal heart's anatomy.)

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He explained to us that when our son would be born, he'd come out purple/blue and that he'd most likely need immediate open heart surgery and me as a mother wouldn't get that immediate one on one time with my baby because the doctors would need to take him immediately.

He said that nothing that we did caused this. He said that every 1 in 3,300 babies is affected by this heart condition and our baby was that 1.

After we said goodbye to the doctor, I told my husband I needed to use the restroom. I tried so hard to not freak out or show him my fear. But, I remember that moment in that restroom I screamed and cried like a baby. I never thought something like this would be happening to my baby.

 

Up until September 24, 2013 we'd get weekly doctor visits to monitor him and ultrasounds to check his heart.

On September 24, 2013 also his due date and our wedding anniversary, it was our 40 week doctor appointment, we went in at 4:00PM and they monitored him for an hour or so.

The doctor looked at his movements, and called us in. She told us that our baby wasn't moving so much and since we were there already that she wanted to induce.

So, we called family and said its time. My sister brought our hospital bag and also stayed with us to help out.

By 6:00PM img_3866I was in a hospital room, hooked up and ready to have our baby boy.  I was so excited to finally see our baby boy, I was so scared because I didn't know what was going to happen. In all these emotions I didn't want to show my family how nervous and scared I was. If I showed them I would just get more nervous and scared.

I went through labor all natural, as it was my plan although there were moments where I yelled at everyone because I wanted the epidural but, thanks to my husband and my sisters help I was able to stick to my plan.

Hours and hours passed by and finally at 8:00 AM September 25, 2013 , our little miracle baby was born. They cleaned him up and immediately took him to the NICU and thankfully my husband was allowed to follow.

While they where cleaning him, Noah was crying and my husband was by his side and the doctors told my husband to talk to him and as soon as he talked to him he opened his little eyes and stopped crying. My husband was able to capture that in these next pictures. Sweetest thing 🙂

 

 

 

My sister stayed by my side and I remember looking at her and asking her how he looked and just wondering how he was doing. My husband had left his phone behind and I asked a nurse if she could take it to him so he can take some pictures for me so he can show me.

I felt like hours and hours passed by when I suddenly see my husband and a young nurse walk in, not noticing what the nurse was holding. My sister says "Tania, Look!" and in her arms was my little baby boy. I cried with so much joy because she was able to bring him in for a minute before they had to take him again.

 

 

 

I just wanted to hold him forever. But they had to take him again. Later, they told us that our son didn't have TGA but he had CCTGA- Congenitally Corrected Transposition of the Great Arteries

(it is a rare heart defect in which the heart’s lower half is reversed. It is also called L-TGA. It is different from and much less common than “regular” transposition of the great arteries (TGA or D-TGA). To understand CCTGA, it helps to first understand how a normal heart works.)

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Noah was in the NICU for a whole week, just being monitored by all the doctors. Finally, October 5, 2013 we got the ok that we can take him home. 🙂

He, thank God was not born blue/purple and didn't need open heart surgery to this day and he gets monitored every 6 months. He is as active as any 3-year-old toddler or maybe even more. Lol! He is the sweetest most tender little boy and I know God has a huge meaning for his life. I can't thank God enough everyday for such a beautiful miracle he has allowed my husband and I to raise and love every second of the day.

 

 

 

 

I wrote this with my heart, my hands are shaking and tears in my eyes. But, this Is a story I wanted to share.

I hope you all enjoyed reading my son Noah's Heart story.

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37 replies to “My Son’s Heart”

  2. He’s our angel! And we are bless to be part of his life…I love you Noah ❤️.
    And I’m so proud of you Tanya for being so brave and strong 😘

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  6. OH my gosh, I am in tears. This must have been so hard to handle. I am so glad Noah is doing ok, I also have a son named Noah with a heart condition.

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  7. I love your story and that everything worked out. I was born with situs inversus totalis ( all my organs are on the opposite side) I also have almost the same heart defect. 30 year ago they would not want to operate on me and still to this day I never had an operation on my heart. I am doing absolutely fine and I am so glad that now they can just fix the tiny hearts right away. Medicine has changed so much.

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  13. This is amazing. I’m so happy to hear that he is doing so well. You were strong for your baby and I’m positive that helped. Beautifully written, it had me reading every word, hoping for good news! Thanks for sharing your story.

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  14. It is a real gift to go through something like this and to be able to share it. Some day your baby will be able to read this and know all the things that are in your heart.

    Writing that is from the heart is always beautiful, pure truth.

    I am so glad that things are great now. Both of our boys births were different, Rakeiora our first born was rushed to NICU in an ambulance from a birthing center, while I was rushed the other way. I cant say that I know how you felt, but I know some of this pain, and joy.

    It is so difficult to go through, but every day when I look at Rakeora I cant believe how lucky we are. He is fine, a normal three year old. Our second son’s birth was almost identical, but this time we were better prepared. He is an amazing four month old now

    My husband has written articles on both of our boys births on our site. A record for them, as is our whole site.

    This is a beautiful story. Thank you for sharing and I look forward to reading more!

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  15. All a mother could ever ask for is a healthy baby, and I am so happy to hear your son turned out ok. I would be freaking out, I don’t know how people do it. I suppose you never know how you’ll react to certain things- but when faced with them there is nothing to do but keep moving forward.

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  16. I’m so happy for your happy ending.

    My daughter had VSD and I remember how scary and confusing it all was.

    I did my best to think happy, positive thoughts but the majority of my pregnancy I was so scared! She’s about to turn 1 and all is well!

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  18. Thank you for sharing. That was very well written. It is amazing what they can do for tiny humans now.
    I have had friends in simular situations. It is so stressful. I have seen moms deal with too much stress during pregnancy and birth.

    My first son failed his first hearing test and I went to the restroom and lost it. It had been a long 42 hours but I don’t know what I would have done if the situation was more serious.

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  20. I’m so glad your little one is safely home with you… I know the fear and heartache of being in NICU… My youngest was born preemie and he spent almost 2 months in NICU before coming home with heart monitors and oxygen…

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  21. That was a beautiful inspiring story! Thank u for sharing as I know it had to be hard to relive all of that. I know this story will help others going through similar situations or just hard situations.

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  24. I am so moved by your story. Noah is indeed a miracle. A blessing for you and your husband. I am happy he is doing well. My husband’s great niece was born with Lissencephaly (Smooth Brain Syndrome). Prognosis is not good, but she is a miracle everyday we have have her. She will be 5 on the 10th of August. Hugs to you and your lovely little boy!

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  28. Such a fighter! He’s so adorable and he must have felt your worry during that time so he came out strong and ready to show you that he can handle it. It was so nice reading your story, thanks for sharing your journey with us! I hope Noah stays healthy for the rest of his life!

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