Henry’s Heart Story

Told by his mom Allison.

Diagnosis: Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD), Atrial Septal Defect (ASD)
At: 38 weeks

Mommy & Henry in the hospital.

It was two weeks before my delivery date and my gynocologist wanted me to go in for another echo. I wasn’t exactly sure why, since my last echo turned out fine. Immediately after the echo the doctors performing the echo said that my baby has Tetralogy of Fallot. “What?!” In an instant my life changed. My husband and I had to meet with Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) team that would be on staff during delivery. The weeks leading up to were the worst of my life. All I could think about is How?, Why?, What did I do wrong? I was so afraid that this little guy inside of me would not survive, and if he did he would have a limited life. I blamed myself. How could I let this happen?! I delivered successfully. I only got to see my little man for a minute then he was whisked away to the PICU. They did another echo that was send directly to the local childrens hospital. The doctors their said that it was not Tetralogy of Fallot, but there was a large VSD that would need to get surgically fixed and that we needed to follow up with a Cardiologist immediately.

~Allison, July 2009

Henry 4 days after surgery!