Baby Update - Please Pray

I had my ultrasound this morning. They discovered a heart problem with the baby called congenital heart block. The ventricles are not receiving the correct stimulus, so it's setting its own rate, about 70 beats per minute (should be around 140). It's still pumping enough blood to the rest of the baby, but has to work a lot harder to do so. We watched it for around 15 minutes at the ultrasound, then the doctor sent us upstairs to a specialist (praise God, she had a cancellation and could fit us in immediately). When we got there, it was like looking at a different heart - it beat perfectly, so the problem was either a fluke, or is in beginning stages and is having difficulty intermittently. 

Congenital heart block is caused by an antibody that I produce. So they sent me to the lab to have blood drawn to see if I do in fact carry the antibody. If I do, then it's congenital heart block and they'd put me on steroids for the remainder of the pregnancy to minimize the damage to the baby's heart. If I test negative for the antibody, then chances are that it was just a fluke, and we'll continue monitoring it just to be sure.

If I do test positively, the antibody is associated with auto-immune diseases, meaning I have a 50% chance of contracting one sometime in my life (lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, etc).

If the baby has congenital heart block, there's a really high chance that the baby will be put on a pacemaker a day after birth. It's not a really invasive procedure, so the baby would just stay in the hospital a few extra days for monitoring. This would also require replacement pacemakers for the duration of his/her life. 

As you can imagine, this is quite a shock and a lot to take in for us. We are praying that I test negative for the antibodies, and that our little one just decided to play a trick on us for a few minutes.

We're praising God that the rest of the baby looks completely perfect. If there is a problem, we're very glad to have caught it early.

My blood work results should be back on Friday. I'll have another ultrasound on Monday to recheck things.