Alison

Happy interlude!.....we immediately got pregnant again....granted her pregnancy was not quite as easy as Elizabeth's as I started bleeding profusely at exactly 34 weeks and went into pre-term labor...but thanks to Niphedipine, I was able to hold out until again 39 weeks and 1 day! Later evaluations revealed I most likely had a placental abruption with her (nice that the nurse on the phone from my NEW office suggested that I stay home, or "Go to the ER" if you want to get checked....hmmmm....the result would not have been as pretty).

Alison was Beautiful just like her sister! I couldn't believe I had two girls! I was SO excited! I didn't have any sisters growing up and was SO jealous of my friends who did. Elizabeth was getting a lifetime friend!

We had no family around us at the time of Alison's birth (my parents went back to NY the day before she was born....to save our relationship....I shall keep my comments to myself about that one...but I think my silence speaks volumes). We were very lucky to have great neighbors and our pseudo "Aunties and Uncles" who helped us out. Our "Auntie Barb" was a godsend (and still is an angel on Earth if you ask my opinion).

Alison came home from the hospital and started to get settled in. Elizabeth wanted to just smooch her just like her baby Cabbage Patch kids! The first night home, I realized that Alison appeared to be acting different from Elizabeth....she turned BLUE/GRAY.....TWICE. I thought it was the light and turned on every light bulb in the house to get a better look. She immediately looked "normal" again....sort of. She also panted a lot and was sweating when she ate. I didn't remember Elizabeth being like this. I checked with Dr. Google and found "Congenital Heart Defect" as the leading result in the search results. OMG. I called the pediatrician immediately and she had her first appt the next day as it was. We brought her in and he detected a murmer but thought it was "her circulatory system just switching over"....which is what the on-call pediatrician at the hospital also claimed when she was discharged. To be safe, he referred her to a pediatric cardiologist. We took her to the cardiologist and it was determined there after an EKG and an Echocardiogram that Alison did in fact have a Ventricular Septal Defect. Basically....fancy words for saying she had a hole between the bottom two chambers of her heart. Therefore, her blood did not pump efficiently as it had a "back-flow". It wasn't too large, and the cardiologist wanted to just check in with her at 6 months and then each year after that to determine if the hole was closing on its own. She was not terribly symptomatic, but if she started to become symptomatic as she became more mobile....we would need to re-evaluate.  Again, questions came from various family members about HOW she ended up with a heart defect. I basically ended up defending myself explaining that the cardiologist explained that sometimes it "just happens". I was NOT smoking and drinking while pregnant for the love of God!

Update- When Alison turned 3 years old, her heart defect had finally closed itself! It did somehow leave her with 3 leaky valves and her heart is on the "Upper Extreme" of normal in regards to size....but again, because she is so energetic, they don't have much concern. We will probably have her checked out again before Middle School to make sure she didn't end up with an enlarged heart before she becomes involved in more strenuous activities. Better safe than sorry!