Matt and I started this page to keep all of you updated on the journey of our baby girl. At our 20 week ultrasound, we received the news that she has a congenital heart defect called dextro-Transposition of the Great Arteries (or d-TGA for short). It is a heart defect that affects 1 in 10,000 babies. Simply put the two main arteries of the heart are in the wrong place; they are switched.
For those of us that aren't doctors, we've explained things a bit below:
How it should work:
The blood from the body comes into the right side of the heart via a vein called the Vena Cava. This de-oxygenated (blue blood) blood is pumped through the Pulmonary Artery to the lungs and gets oxygenated. The Oxygenated blood (red blood) then travels back to the left side heart via the Pulmonary veins. The Aorta (an artery) then pumps red blood to the other organs.
How it is working for our baby:
The blue blood from the body is coming into the right side of the heart and instead of going out the Pulmonary Artery; it is going out the Aorta. This means that the other organs of the body are not getting oxygenated blood. On the other side, the Pulmonary Artery is going out to the lungs, so it is just cycling the oxygenated blood.
Inside the heart of a fetus, there is a natural hole between the right and left atrium that, when the baby is born will allow for some of the blood to mix, to get some oxygenated blood to other parts of the body. This hole will close on its own after birth.
Depending on the state of the baby when she is born, they will probably start her on the hormone prostaglandin that keeps a vein open which helps mix the blood until surgery. She may also need a catheter procedure to keep the hole in her heart open wider also for blood mixing purposes or need to be put on oxygen.
There will be a wait for a few days to a week for the main surgery. It is open heart surgery, where they will have to go through the sternum. They will, in a simple way, switch the placement of the Aorta and the Pulmonary artery.
The recovery is not easy but babies heal quickly. They told us, barring any complications, to expect her to spend 10 days to 3 weeks in the hospital after her surgery, and the goal is that the only thing you need to take the baby home is a car seat.
The prognosis is actually really positive and the long term effects for this defect are surprisingly minimal in most cases. She won't play professional football but d-TGA babies just a few months out are thriving.
As the doctor said, it is something she will never remember and something we will never forget.
She will be taken care of at Lurie's Children's Hospital which is connected to Prentice Women’s hospital where she will be delivered. We've already met the wonderful team of doctors and surgeons that will be on hand for her first few weeks. They are really an amazing team and we've been thoroughly impressed with Lurie's. We know she is in the best hands possible. We’ve also spoken to other families who have gone through similar situations with the same team at Lurie’s which has given us tremendous comfort and support.
After she is born, we'll be using this site to keep our friends and family updated, since it will be hard for us to reach out to everyone with the latest. If you want to reach out to us privately you can always e-mail us at: meganecoad@gmail.com or matthewcoad@hotmail.com. We might be slow in responding, but we will do our best.
We were discharged today and able to bring Linley home for good. We are all thrilled to have her here! Hopefully we won’t have any more updates for this site but appreciate all the love and support so so much!! Thank you all again 💖
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