I was so excited to be expecting our fourth child, a second son!! I had hoped and prayed for another boy. And I got one... only he wasn't healthy. When I was thirty five weeks our baby, Brendan, was diagnosed with hypoplastic right ventricle, VSD and tricuspid atresia. We were absolutely devastated. At thirty eight weeks they induced labor and a very pink 7 lb. 3 ounce baby boy was born. His color was fantastic!! The docs couldn't believe it...his sats were 100%. Brendan's diagnosis changed after birth... he had a cath at six hours old and they discovered he did not have tricuspid atresia but he did have transposition of the great vessels or arteries. The PC created an ASD to help improve blood flow through the heart...and to this day that is the only intervention Brendan has had to have!!!

Brendan's diagnosis changed yet again when he was cathed when two and a half years old. This explained how when he was born they originally thought he had tricuspid atresia. Instead of his tricuspid valve pumping from top right chamber (right atrium) to bottom right chamber (right ventricle) it criss-crosses into his left ventricle as does his mitral valve into his right ventricle... thus the diagnosis of criss-cross AV valves. The valves also are connected tissually as one lies on top of the other and they meet right in the middle of his VSD.

After Brendan's last cath it was decided not to do surgery. Closing his VSD would mean replacing both AV valves with mechanical ones and the PC recommended against that at his age. He remains extremely stable with 94% oxygen levels at almost four and a half years old. We have been extremely blessed with Brendan's good health. His asthma tends to give us more worry than his heart!!