Abigail and her twin brother were born March 2, 2005. Abigail had extra fluid in her lungs and wasn't eating well, so remained in the NICU during our 4-day stay while I recovered from a C-section.

We had to move and started seeing a new pediatrician in March of 2006. The doctor heard a heart murmur and asked if we knew that she had one. I was in shock, my beautiful, healthy one year-old now had a heart murmur. He said, since he noticed it at a time when she had bronchitis, we would wait until her 15 month well-check to see if it was still there.

Well, at Abby's 15 month well check, the heart murmur was still present and considered "loud" because she was calm and not ill. Abby's pediatrician sent us to a cardiologist to check it out. Abby was diagnosed with an atrial septal defect at her first cardiology appointment. The cardiologist said there might be a chance that it could be closed in the cath lab if we wanted to try that. We wanted a second opinion!

We took her to another cardiologist, specializing in cath lab procedures. He said there was a 50% chance that it would work, but that if there were complications, they would take her to the OR and do open heart surgery. However, there weren't any surgeons at this facility at the time, so we'd have to wait until they hired a surgeon. We weren't comfortable with that.

We took her to a third cardiologist in November 2006 and we felt much more comfortable with the entire staff and facility. Abby's new cardiologist said that since she was healthy and didn't have any symptoms of a heart defect that it would be in Abby's best interest to put off surgery and continue to have check-ups with EKG's and echos.

We saw the cardiologist again in April 2007. He confirmed that her hole had not closed on its own and would need to be closed using open heart surgery as there was not enough "rim" for the device to attach to in a cath lab procedure. Her heart was slightly enlarged which is common for an ASD. So we'd wait until October 2007 for another check-up.

Well, in June 2007 we noticed that Abby was tiring more quickly and her hands and feet were getting cold very often. She was always asking for socks and a sweater. So, the cardiologist wanted to see her in early July 2007.

We took her for that visit and it was found that Abby's heart was now severely enlarged, so we should go ahead and schedule surgery. Abby's open heart surgery has been scheduled for August 2007. We are anxiously awaiting surgery day and we are ready to have a healthier little girl that can again keep up with her twin brother.