At 20 weeks into my pregnancy, we were eager to attend our anatomy scan to see our little boy. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. The sonographer had difficulty capturing images of the heart, which led us to be referred to a fetal heart specialist. The specialist informed us that the left ventricle appeared much smaller than the right.

After several weeks of routine visits, the doctors were unable to provide a definitive diagnosis regarding whether it was hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). When Timmy was born, his first echocardiogram revealed that the left side of his heart was small, along with coarctation of the aorta, a ventricular septal defect (VSD), and hypoplastic mitral and aortic valves.

After 10 days in the ICU, the cardiology team observed that the left ventricle had grown and was now classified as normal-small in size. They determined that they did not need to proceed with the one-ventricle surgery and could instead correct the coarctation. The surgery was successful, and the doctors placed a band on his pulmonary artery (PA) to reduce blood flow to his lungs.

Timmy will be four months old tomorrow and has been doing great. His second open-heart surgery, to remove the band from his PA, is scheduled for the next few months, and they will continue to monitor the growth of his aortic and mitral valves. We are so grateful to have found OHHF, a supportive community where we can connect with and relate to other heart moms.