(Written April 2001)
Hello everyone! My name is Abbe Washington and this is a little about
us and our little miracle, Allisa Lee. My husband is Charlie and we have been together for almost 4yrs now but only married for one. We found out I was pregnant around October of 1999. Even though she was a surprise, we were thrilled!! My pregnancy was pretty much uneventful with no complications but since I was born with a Congenital Heart Defect (CHD), Transposition of the
Great Arteries (TGA) with a Ventrical Septal Defect (VSD), my OB
thought to send me to have a fetal echo done just to be sure the baby was okay. The ultrasounds I had up until this point all seemed normal so we had no reason to be alarmed, or so we thought. When I was 5 months along, Charlie and I had an appointment with the cardiologist to do the echo. She explained how the risks were very minimal of having a child with any type of Congenital Heart Defect, in fact only a 3% chance. So, needless to say, I wasn't really worried at all. Then the
echo just kept taking longer and longer and after an hour the cardiologist just said "I'm sorry, but there is something wrong with your baby's heart." From there I don't remember much after that point. I was in tears and just started praying to God to please let it not be true. The doctor's first question was do we want to terminate the pregnancy. What???????? How could she be asking this but my husband spoke up right away and said "never." At the time the cardio. doc was unable to give an accurate diagnosis but from what she explained she told us it seemed that the child was missing her aorta and several other defects, whatever it was it was serious and we needed to be prepared for the worst. She arranged for us to meet with a specialist in our
state, in fact he is the only pediatric heart surgeon in our state. During the echo is when we found out the sex of the baby, it's a girl!! I was so excited to find that out but after the news of the heart condition, I didn't even care. Well, we had one week to get through before seeing the heart surgeon and it was an awful week. I was miserable and so scared about losing this child. We just had no idea what to expect, I think that was the hardest, just not knowing. Well, finally the time was here and we began to make the 3hr trip to the children's hospital. Once there they did another fetal echo but because of the position of the baby we were unable to get any ideas on what
the problems were. They tried for hours but no luck so we were sent home again to wait another month, still not knowing. I spent each day just feeling her move inside of me and treasured every moment of it. I was so afraid I may never feel that again. A month later and another 6hr total trip and still not much more luck with getting a diagnosis. Allisa was very squirmy and just didn't want anyone to invade her privacy I guess you could say. They were able to see what seemed to be Transposition of the great arteries(TGA) and a VSD. Because of the previous luck and knowing that as she got bigger it would just get harder for them to tell anything for sure the doctors there decided to
just do a planned delivery with full medical staff waiting. The arrangements were made to have a scheduled induction on April 24, 2000, 4 days before my actual due date. So off home we go to wait a little more. April 24, 2000 4am in the car making our too often trip we arrive at the hospital around 8am. They began to induce me that afternoon and finally on April 25 9:10pm, our daughter decided to make her way into the world! She was whisked away first thing and taken behind another door to access her. I
was so afraid, not as happy as I felt I should have been just having our first child. Fear just took over. Well, within a few minutes a nurse came out to get my husband and off he went. I didn't know what to expect but there in the door came my Charlie holding our daughter. I couldn't believe it, there she was and he was holding her. "Is she breathing," "what happened" were the questions I was asking. He handed her to me and there she was, wide awake not making a sound. Big beautiful blue eyes just like her daddy staring into my soul. I was in another place, a paradise. But the moment was short lived. A few minutes later they were back to take Allisa to the NICU to began her tests, x-rays, echoes, etc. I didnt' see her again till the next afternoon. I was told I could come visit her in the NICU and of
course we did. I couldn't hold her just yet but she seemed to be doing fine. She was hooked up onto several machines and monitors though. Allisa was only kept in the hospital for one week, all of which she had to remain in the NICU. Each day they unhooked another machine and I loved when I could finally hold her and not worry about all those things. The doctors were quite impressed with her and how well she seemed to be doing, which was good news! There seemed to be no need for surgery at this
time. She has been diagnosed with TGA, large VSD, ASD, pulmonary stenosis, tricuspid leak along with an enlarged heart and liver. So they let us take her home and began our new life, the 3 of us. Allisa is now 11 months approaching her first birthday and I'm thankful for each day I've had to spend with her. She's walking and even running now, saying wonderful words like mama and dada, 6 teethers now and I could just go on and on about her. Her health is wonderful and she's had no problems with her heart. It is very likely she'll need to have a reparative
surgery within the next year or two but we're still hopeful our prayers will be answered and she'll continue to thrive with no intervention. I know I have been blessed, things could've worked out so much worse and I'm grateful for her life and the quality of life she has. She's now expecting a new brother or sister in November of this year. Thank you for taking the time to hear a little bit about us and our little miracle! I wish the best for everyone and all the babies out there with CHDs or any other type of illness. It can be a long road but the babies Always make the trip worth it. Take care--- Abbe, Charlie and Allisa
Copyright(c)2001-Abbe
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