Let's all get on the same page, then. Ok?

So, I've wanted to create this blog for a while now, and for some odd reason, I seem to have a fraction of time here- so here I go! Rush and make this happen!

The reason I've wanted to make this blog is mostly to keep family and friends updated on Piper's health, which, as I'll explain soon, isn't perfect.

The evening following Piper's birth (May 13), the nurses and doctors discovered that she has a heart murmur.  

Now, everyone seems to know someone with one, or who has had one etc.  I know my cousin had one, got it fixed and we've never really heard anything about it again.  And really, heart murmur's in babies are quite common, and totally and completely fixable.

Piper's exact heart condition is called "Tetralogy of Fallot" (TOF)- and Follot was a french dude who discovered it, so you say "Faa-low".  (cheeky french laugh here).

This essentially means (latin nerds tune in!) Tetra= four, and logia/logy= the study of...  Which means that there are 4 basic things not quite right with Piper's heart at the moment.

Here is a diagram of what Piper's heart looks like (on the right), and what yours and mine looks like (on the left)

In Piper's case, they call it "pink" TOF, meaning that the  pulmonary stenosis is mild and is distinguished with a loud murmur.

We've been told by Dr. Duncan, at BC Children's hospital, that "pink" TOF is really the best kind to have, and that, in Piper's case, she has an excess of blood flow.  This means excellent circulation and if anything, an over abundance of oxygenated blood.  We've gotten nothing but comments when we are in the Heart Center at BCCH, saying "Oh  my! What a glorious pink baby you have!". I think they see a lot of sickly blue babies there...

Anyways, surgery is necessary.  We're not so excited at the prospect of our child being operated on, but we feel so stellar about the staff at BCCH and know they will do the best job possible.  I really believe that we've got the best surgeons and doctors in North America right here in our province.  How cool is that?  And they can take care of our baby.

They haven't set a firm date yet, but it will be sometime mid-November.  But she does have a date for an angiogram for October 16th.  The angiogram will give the doctors a crystal clear picture of Piper's heart and know exactly how to go about when they operate.

For this, Piper will have to be put to sleep for a few hours (not looking forward to the fasting 10 or so hours beforehand.  Yeah, sounds like fun: starving a baby for half a day.  Not fun.), and they will put a catheder in her leg all the up to her heart, then shoot a dye in there so that they can take x-ray images.  

We feel pretty good about this, as it will be one step closer to having a healthy baby.  The angiogram is just an outpatient thing, so she can come that night, no problem.  But that is the next biggest thing on our plate.

Well, I should go... I can hear Piper waking up.  I'll try to post some more pictures and let you know what we find out at the pediatrician next Monday.

Much love!  M+F+P