Maddie’s Myxoma

We were so excited in September when we found out I was expecting. Like any parents, we had big dreams and expectations. Would he/she be smart? Would it have my curly hair? Would it have Rus’ height? I cried the first time I heard the heartbeat, no other sound in the world is as beautiful as that rhythm. We couldn’t wait for the first ultrasound to finally see it.

The ultrasound came and went. We had decided not to find out the gender, since ultrasounds aren’t always 100% accurate; some of our friends have found out the hard way! At 22 weeks, I received a phone call from my doctor’s office requesting that I come in for a consult regarding the ultrasound. I immediately panicked. They only call you in if its bad news and I wasn’t sure I was ready to face this. My wonderful doctor started off by saying that the baby was developing perfectly, it was the right size and everything was working as it should. But there was some concern because of a small growth inside the heart.

Well the heart is a pretty vital organ in the body! We had a fetal assessment and heart ultrasound done, and at the time they were more curious about this growth than concerned. There wasn’t a whole lot they could do about it, except monitor her (we found out we were having a girl!) more closely for the remainder of the pregnancy.

So our pregnancy was one of waiting: waiting for each fetal assessment, waiting for doctor’s appointments, waiting in the doctor’s office, and anxiously waiting to hear the heartbeat again. And to top it all off, they weren’t going to decide what to do about this myxoma (growth) until she was born and they could see how her heart responded to oxygen.

Labour was interesting, but another story for another time! Long story very short, she was supposed to be monitored in the NICU immediately after birth. But as it turned out, the NICU at HSC and St Boniface were full, and her condition was stable enough that she was allowed to remain with me!

Our cardiologist spoke with the surgeons in Edmonton about her situation and decided that the best course of action was surgery. They aren’t exactly sure what this growth is, but it’s attached to the wall of the upper right chamber and it goes into the lower section each time the valve opens. They think this is a myxoma, but are planning on doing tests after they remove it to figure out exactly what it is. This growth is only 4mm big, and hasn’t grown since they first found it in December.

Madelyn is continuing to grow and develop like any normal baby. If this growth wouldn’t have been noticed on the ultrasound, they most likely wouldn’t have known about it until something happened. So even though it makes life scary for us, we are so thankful that they caught it before it does any damage.
We don’t have dates for her surgery yet, but she is on an active waiting list. We may only find out the week before when we’ll have to fly to Edmonton to have this procedure done. And as we again wait, we pray.

It was a pretty rough pregnancy emotionally; the question ‘why us’ was constantly on my mind. It was especially hard watching friends have perfectly normal babies, while we were anxiously waiting for the next doctor’s appointment to hear the heartbeat and know she was still alive.

But we made it through. We are so thankful for all the prayer support we’ve received; especially on the days when we didn’t know what to pray. God has given us small miracles along the way: the myxoma hasn’t grown, she developed normally, her heartbeat has remained strong and steady, and she didn’t have to go to the NICU when she was born.

As I write this Madelyn is sitting in her swing, her eyes slowly closing as she fights sleep. She is a very content baby; we can usually figure out what she wants when she’s crying. She’s also growing like crazy. I can’t believe how big she is already! But I guess every parent says that…