We're leaving for Charleston tomorrow. I can't believe it's already here. We saw our pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Lucas, on Tuesday. It was a good visit. Josiah seems to be doing surprisingly well. He now weighs 6lbs. 1oz. There were a couple of things that stuck out to us as we talked to Dr. Lucas about what's to come. First, he told us that after we met with the ped. cardiologist at MUSC around 26 weeks and Josiah was diagnosed with the atrial septal defect on top of HLHS, he and the cardiologist at MUSC didn't think that I would be able to carry Josiah much longer. The fear was that the septal wall (the wall between the atriums) would close completely and that when that happened blood would begin to back up into the lungs. If that happened the only thing they could do would be to take him at that point. After my visit to MUSC the cardiologists thought that would happen and that it would happen quickly. What no one accounted for was the miracle that God performed on Josiah's heart. It appears that the wall has closed, but as I've mentioned before in a previous post, as that wall began to close, Josiah's heart formed a new vessel that appears to allow blood to leave the atrium rather than backing up toward the lungs. Dr. Lucas is not 100% sure of this vessels function or size or it's ability to help Josiah once he is born because it is so rare, but in my mind it could very well be God's way of saving Josiah's life. What we know for sure right now is that this vessel has allowed Josiah to stay in my womb and continue growing which has been the best thing for him. Milo and I are so encouraged by this little, possibly huge, miracle.

The next thing that struck us while talking with Dr. Lucas is just how complicated Josiah's heart is. We knew this but when you hear it again and this time it's only a week from his birth it becomes reality. Dr. Lucas tried to tell us what to expect the day Josiah is born. He said that as soon as Josiah is born they will take him to the catheterization lab. He compared the speed of this to the cartoons when a puff of smoke trails behind a character speeding away. He told us not to expect to know how much he weighs or even see him, they will take him that quick. When I asked him if we would hear regular updates as to his condition he told us that he couldn't be sure. He said he was predicting the cath lab to be very chaotic (which it is not normally) because there would be lots of people there. Josiah's heart condition is not textbook and so they are not sure exactly what they will do. The plan is to have lots of doctors there to bounce ideas off each other to determine the best course of action. Because of the urgency and "chaoticness" of the first hours of Josiah's life he's afraid that we won't hear many updates. I certainly hope that doesn't happen.

Our biggest prayer is that this abnormal vessel that has protected Josiah so far will function outside the womb and be something that really helps Josiah during the first crucial hours of his life. Please pray that with us.