Today we saw Dr. Solomon again. She did another ultrasound....let me just say I was super excited to get my pictures done today.  I kept moving around and couldn't hold still.  However, they did get some cute pictures of me. Take a look for yourselves...

         

                               
     

 

Ok, back to my visit with the doctor.

 

 The first good news is I have gained about a pound and a half...yes, that means I am almost three pounds....2lbs 14ozs...total. The doctors say I need to be at least four pounds, but more the better. My mommy wants me to be closer to six or seven pounds.  I think so too.  That way my body will be bigger and will be able to handle the surgeries better. We also met with Dr. Blumrick today who is also in the same office as Dr. Solomon's office.  He is an OBGYN doctor. He will also be a part of the team for my care. His main role is for my mommy.  He will make sure everything is ok with her health.

 

The other good news is that Dr. Solomon had called last week and asked my mommy if it was ok to send all of our info on my situation to two different, well known, specialists to have them look and discuss what they think about everything.  Well, it turns out that those two doctors are coming to Arizona next week and want to see my mom and me.  They want to be part of the team of doctors who are helping me.  This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and they are giving it to me. Dr. Solomon also said she was going to hand pick the doctor that she wants to deliver me. So I only have the best. I am truly blessed!!!  I am so grateful to have such a wonderful team of doctors. 

 

Can I get a high five!!!!!!!! 

                                        

 

 

 

 

Just thought you would like to see a picture of my foot.  I like to kick my mommy a lot. I even tried to kick the ultrasound probe off her tummy today.

 



 For the next six weeks we will be going to Dr. Solomon's office every two weeks.... lots of pictures to come. We will also be seeing the two specialists that are coming next week and we will also be seeing the General Surgeon as well as a couple other specialists...I just can't remember their titles.... 

I will keep you updated, of course.

Today we met with the Cardiac Surgeon, Dr. Nigro.  He seems to be very negligible and optimistic considering.  He said that without the Diaphragmatic Hernia, the success rate for survival of infants with my exact condition is 95%. This news made my mommy and grandma feel a little better. But,  because I have more than just the heart disease it does drop the rate by a considerable amount but he didn't specify how much.  He said he would have to wait until I was born to do a proper assessment.  While we were there they gave my mommy and grandma a tour of the floor I will be staying.  Let me just say it is quite a nice hospital.  They make accommodations for my mommy and daddy to stay with me while I am recovering.  My mommy will also be able to stay at the Ronald McDonald house, which is on campus of the hospital, the entire length of my hospital stay.

Hello, 

This blog is meant to be a record of the events that has and will happen in this precious little angel sent from our Heavenly Father. In his point of view.

My mom found out she was pregnant on November 26, 2013.  She was already about 12 - 13 weeks along. She was feeling all kinds of emotions....a little bit of everything.  Most of all she couldn't believe that she was going to be a mom.  She called my dad, Victor Lopez, and gave him the news.  He was excited to be a dad.  They both started talking about what to name me (which at this time I still don't even know my name). They started making all kinds of plans.

My mom went to her first appointment on December 30, 2013. This appointment was to confirm that she in fact was pregnant.  Her, my daddy and grandma Keeling went. I think they were all still in shock.  It didn't actually sink in until my mom's first ultrasound on January 6, 2014, when she heard my heart beat and saw little pictures of me. My grandma Keeling cried....she is a big cry baby.  My mom said record this so I can show Victor (he wasn't able to get off work), and she wanted him to be able to experience this as much as possible.  My mom had a couple more ultrasounds done because the ultrasound tech couldn't get good enough pictures of all of my anatomy. So they said she would have to go to another doctor who has a more high tech machine so they can get the pictures needed. On March 26, 2014 my mom and grandma went to Dr. Solomon's office to have another ultrasound done. Again, I didn't want to show my heart.  The tech had my mom lay on each of her sides...I still didn't give them a good look. They made her get up and walk around, drink some juice, eat a couple cookies, even lay on her belly (as much as she could).....still nothing.  Doctor Solomon came in to do some of her own picture scans and I finally cooperated a little better.  That is when she gave my mom some bad news about me.  She told my mom and grandma Keeling that I had a couple of birth defects, not just little ones but life threatening ones.  The first one is called a  "Diaphragmatic Hernia" which  is a hole in his diaphragm, which separates my heart and lungs from the rest of my organs, which my liver has made its way up through that hole and is now pushing my heart and left lung over to the far left side of my chest cavity and the right lung to the far right side of my chest cavity.

In this picture it shows the baby's intestines.  But mine is my liver. The other birth defect they said I have is called an "Overriding Aorta" which is a hole in the muscle tissue that separates the left chambers from the right chambers. One side is for the oxygenated blood and the other is for the deoxygenated blood. With the hole in the muscle of my heart the two bloods are mixing together. This is causing my heart to work harder to get the oxygenated blood circulated through out the rest of my body.

The picture on the left is what a normal heart is supposed to look like. The picture on the right is what mine looks like.

Both of these defects are correctable with surgery.  Which I will have to be put on a machine to breath for me for a while and have surgery right after I am born.  This news scared my mom to death.  She instantly feared for me.  She thought to herself what could I have done to prevent this from happening. Dr. Solomon told her that nothing could have prevented this from happening. It is just something that happened, however, she wanted my mom to talk to a Genetics Counselor, who was in the office already, about possible chromosome issues.  After talking with the Genetics counselor they decided to do a "Amniocentesis", which is when they, with the help of the ultrasound machine, stick a needle into her belly and draw out some amniotic fluid to run tests on it.  This is how they can tell if he has chromosomes missing or to many chromosomes.  If one of these are true that would not be good at all.  There are so many more issues that could go wrong if they were. It is possible that this is the reason I have these birth defects.  The counselor said that it is unusual for a baby to have one birth defect and even more unusual for a baby to have two.  We will have to wait now for the results....My mom is not very patient, she wants the results right now.  So with all the news she received today, Dr. Solomon's office has arranged for my mom to see several specialists.  She has to see a pediatric Cardiologist on Tuesday, April 1, 2014.  She will also have to get an MRI done on Friday, April 4, 2014.  The Cardiac Surgeon, General Surgeon and the Neonatal Specialist are to follow soon. 

My mom called my dad and had to give him the news he wasn't prepared to hear. My mom and dad were so worried for my life and helpless, the doctor had told them that there was nothing they could do to help me.

My Great-Grandpa Keeling and my mom's Bishop Lance Smith came over and gave her a blessing.  She felt the love of our Heavenly Father, which gave her great comfort.  It also gave her the strength to be strong for me.  I am so grateful for my mommy.  She loves me so much. 


The next couple of days were emotional for her.  She started to do as much research as she could about my conditions.  She wanted to know everything she could. She found a chart of all the most needed vitamins and minerals to help me grow and based her diet on everything on this chart, she focused a lot on the main 4 vitamins that help my heart grow and develop. The doctor had also told my mom that I have to weigh at least 4 pounds so that the breathing machine will be able to work for me. My mom had asked the doctors what she can do to help me gain weight, they told her that there was nothing she was able to do. She kept doing her research and found similar women who had similar stories to mine and they helped there babies to gain weight by eating healthy fats like avocados, nuts, 100% fruit juices and more protein. This gave a little beam a hope and my mom started adding these things to her everyday meals. My dad does so much for me and my mom. He works 2 jobs and is soon taking on a 3rd so that he can give us everything we want and need. He loves me and my mom so much and cant wait to meet me!

On April 1, 2014 my mom and grandma went to see the pediatric Cardiologist in Scottsdale. He took some more pictures of my heart.  The results were even worse than they thought. It turns out that lower left chamber of my heart is smaller than it should be and a couple of the tubes for my heart are narrower then they should be. Meaning that they are going to have to do surgery to kind of reconstruct my heart so it can work properly.  It is a dangerous surgery but one that has had many successes. The doctor was hopeful.  He mentioned that the more dangerous out of the two defects was the Hernia. I guess we will just have to wait and see. Oh, and don't forget...PRAY!

In the meantime, I love to move around and kick my mommy. I am still growing the way I should. Can you believe I am already about 1 pound, 6 ounces?  It is amazing they can tell how much I weigh without me standing on a scale.  They were also able to take my picture using a 3-D view. My mom says I have my daddy's lips and chin.  I can't wait to meet him and see if we look alike.