We decided not to talk about it to anyone, not even our parents or close friends. So disturbed that I was, one day told the sister. The husband was upset and again we decided not to tell anyone. So why am I here, willing to write about it and let the entire world know (err not that the entire world read my blog)
When I wanted some information on the topic, there was not much available on the net and whatever information available was only misleading so if even one mother to-be searching for some information on the topic, land on my blog and get some clarity, I would be really happy.
Except for puking non stop, severe back pain, head aches, leg pain, severe itching. .ermm ok leave it, my pregnancy was going on smooth until the day I had my anamoly scan. After scanning the baby for almost an hour, the doc said that the baby is not cooperating and hence asked us to come after two days. Those were the most scariest two days of my life as I sensed that something was wrong. Again after 2 days, with my heart beating in my mouth we went there and I was sent for a scan along with fetal echo. I almost died a hundred times while waiting for the doc to call us and let us know the problem.
Let us talk some medical science here. Shall we? Okay if you remember your biology lessons in school, you might have read about the vena cavas. The superior and inferior vena cava which are nothing but veins carrying deoxigniated blood from upper and lower part of the body respectively to the right atrium. The SVC is usually found in the upper right side of the heart. This is the structure of a normal heart. Now what they found out with Zidane’s heart is that the SVC is found on the left side which is draining into the coronary sinus which inturn drains into the right atrium. This is a variant heart.
The doctor gave us an hour of counselling about the above which of course didn’t get into our head at that time. We were totally blank.
She told us a hundred times that this is not a disease. It’s just a variance in the heart and asked us not to google and that she is 100% sure that we will not find any correct information on the net. So the first thing we did after coming home was of course to google.
Google says
1)This kind of variation in heart is found only in 0.2 % of the entire population.
My take : This might be found in larger population but they would have remained undetected. The doctor told us if at all we would have gone to some other scan center, they might not even found out this issue at all. Just because they have some advanced medical equipments they were able to find it.
2) What scared me most was that among that 0.2% about 5% would result in congenital heart disease.
My take : Trust me, as long as the LSVC is draining into the right atrium, the heart is just perfect.
The only problem with this variation of heart is that the normal pace makers available in the market would not fit his heart. But let’s not worry about it now. There is so much time and with advancing medical science they might come up with something. Also let us hope that he lives with a healthy heart throughout his life.
We were asked to take a fetal echo at 8th month and one month after the baby is born. In spite of so much of counselling from our cardiologist and my gync, we were confused and scared. I was not even scared a bit about my delivery. All I wanted was that there shouldn’t be any problem with the echo reports.
We did the echo for Zidane few days back and his heart is perfectly fine. That day, I was so relieved after about worrying unnecessarily for about 5 months and our gynecologist said that her instinct tells her that Zidane is going to be an athlete :)
So any mother to-be, if your scan reports shows persistent left SVC draining into coronary sinus. Don’t worry. This is just a harmless finding. As long as the LSVC is draining into the right atrium, the baby’s heart is healthy.
In spite of the unnecessary burden on my head, my pregnancy journey was so very beautiful. I would say the best nine months of my life. I really want to write about the people who made it wonderful. I have a series of posts lying in my drafts. Will publish them one by one.
When I was googling for information, I landed on many blogs of mothers of kids with congenital heart disease. It was so scary to read their struggle. All they wished for is a normal life, a life without hospital visits, without fear, without seeing their child suffer, without waiting outside the operation theatre. Just one normal day. If only God had some other plans for us and made the LSVC draining into the left atrium or something else, we would have also been in the same situation, wishing for one normal day. Zidane, even before he was born thought me one important life lessons. After reading all these blogs, I stopped complaining. This normal life I am leading is beyond imagination for so many people out there. I should be happy and yes I stopped complaining about my life!
P.S: If anyone wants more information on the topic or how my baby is doing, feel free to mail me at [email protected]. I would be glad to help!
