For those of you who knew, L was having some trouble with her heart. Her heart was beating over 140 beats per minute, and that was while she was just sitting still. Anything over 130 beats per minute can put the baby in distress. It was a bit scary since she often could not get it to slow down. An American doctor, who we consult with, told us on Sunday that we needed to get to the big city as soon as possible as this issue was apparently getting worse by the week.
So on Monday we bought plane tickets for Tuesday morning. Thanks to a giving family member K was able to accompany L. The hospital in our city is supposed to be the best in the area, but to a foreigner it seems dirty, over crowded and the staff sometimes seems incompetent. However, this hospital is very cheap, so that is why we put up with it. The hospital we went to in the big city is staffed entirely by foreign trained doctors (both nationals of this country and expatriates). It also costs what a hospital staffed with foreign trained doctors would cost as well.
The doctor ordered an EKG. Unfortunately L had to lay on her back for the EKG, and the nurse did not take into consideration that L is pregnant (the baby cuts off the circulation of the Superior Vena Cava). The nurse had some trouble with the machine, and L ended up being on her back for about 15 minutes. Unfortunately it took a toll on her and she began to struggle to breathe, started sweating really bad, and in the end got emotional. We are not sure if it was a panic attack or hyperventilation (both of which has never happened to her before), but either way her doctor was called and an oxygen tank was brought to her.
Afterwards she was sent to get a sonogram so they could view the baby's heart. They said the baby is perfect! Its weight is fine. It has enough room to grow....and we found out the gender of the baby. WE ARE HAVING A GIRL! For the longest time we thought we were having a girl, so it was really nice to have it confirmed. Both of us wanted a girl, so this is wonderful news.
They did a bunch of blood tests and gave L a Flu shot. Eventually they had to call a specialist. He asked L a lot of questions, and in the end he said she has something called SVT - Supraventricular Tachycardia. From what we understand one of L's ventricles is going nuts and the rest of the heart is having to keep up with it. Unfortunately the necessary medication is in the X category for pregnant women, so L is taking a calcium channel blocker that lowers blood pressure (her blood pressure is normal) but also slows down the heart. She will take it only as necessary as we do not want her blood pressure to get too low. We will probably get a blood pressure machine to monitor it. The doctors said that the benefits outweigh the risks since her high heart rate can harm the baby.
We are now home. We spent a total of 21 hours in the big city. We are so grateful that we were able to make the trip, and the gifts of people make it possible for others like us living in foreign countries to make these necessary trips.
Oh yeah, we also ate some wonderful Tex-Mex. KB drank a Dr. Pepper and LB had the best peanut butter shake ever made.
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