Category: Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome

Congenital Heart Defects, D&E, Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome, Stories, Tricuspid Atresia

Asher’s Heart

Asher's Heart

Editor’s note: By special request of the author, this story is published exactly as it was submitted to us. We were crushed, devastated, horrified. The rug had been swept out from under us. In a matter of a few days, we had gone from excited to meet our little boy to hearing we may never meet him and on top of that, we had to make that impossible decision. By Jeannine April 29, 2021 was the worst day of my life. That previous Monday night, we had definitively felt our baby boy moving for the first time. My husband and I sat for several minutes, […]

Congenital Heart Defects, Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome, Stories

I almost canceled the nuchal translucency

I almost cancelled the nuchal translucency

Typically, a nuchal translucency is performed between 11 and 13 weeks. Mine was late, at 13.5 weeks. The fact that the doctor wasn’t seeing what he should be seeing at this late stage alarmed me. By Morgan At my first ultrasound, I asked the technician, “Is there a heartbeat?” I breathed a big sigh of relief when she said yes. We had learned from the NIPT that we were expecting a little girl, and we had already come up with a name that we both thought might be a good fit. I almost canceled my nuchal translucency test My husband and I were working full-time from […]

Congenital Heart Defects, D&E, Diagnoses, Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome, Stories

Letting Poppy Go

HRHS - Letting Poppy Go - a hypoplastic right heart syndrome diagnosis

After days of crying, sleepless nights, and considering quality of life/life expectancy issues, we decided to let our baby boy with HRHS go. By Catt We found out we were having a baby boy late last year. Since I was 38 and wanted another child close in age to our first, this was the blessing we were praying for. We nicknamed the baby “Poppy.” Given my age, we went through all the testing: we did the MaterniT® 21, a nuchal translucency screening, and an amniocentesis. Everything came back normal. Then came time for our 20-week anatomy scan. Like my daughter, my son loved being on his tummy. Because […]