Baby Update

First of all, some belly pics...

 24 weeks - all dressed up

 Jeremy and I got to go to a gala for the opening of a new wing at the hospital. Here's my Sweetie looking sharp in his black tie attire. ;)

28 weeks - belly pic at the beach!

I'm now 31 weeks and everything is still going smoothly, considering. I had another fetal echo a few weeks ago and the cardiologist confirmed that little Amelia's heart defect is indeed Truncus Arteriosus. ...And now a lesson in cardiology - if you don't care, then feel free to take a nap at this time... :-) Amelia has a single blood vessel coming out of the right and left ventricles instead of the normal two vessels, the pulmonary artery and the aorta. In addition, she has a ventricular septal defect (a large hole between her ventricles), resulting in the mixing of oxygenated and un-oxygenated blood. Because Amelia has only a single large vessel, some if this mixed blood goes to the lungs, some to the coronary arteries and the rest goes to the body. Usually too much blood is sent to the lungs. The positive thing is that her heart is strong - it is the vessels and the hole between her ventricles that need repairing. Due to the seriousness of the defect, she'll undergo surgery soon after birth, likely within a few days, and she'll remain in the hospital for 4-6 weeks. The surgery creates two separate arteries. The large vessel that she already has will be kept as the aorta. The pulmonary artery will be created using some other tissue and the branch pulmonary arteries will be sewn into the new artery. Holy cow - isn't it amazing what medicine can do for a teeny little heart?! I'm in awe and so grateful that she is being born at a time when doctors have the knowledge and tools to fix this kind of thing.

Isn't learning more fun with visual aids??

That's about it. Amelia is growing and kicking and killing my ribs, and I'm still running around faster than most people can keep up with me. 9 more weeks!