We’re officially on spring break! We said good bye to our last team a week ago, and now we are 1 week in to our 4 week break. We have spent the last week enjoying quiet time in San Juan and catching up with friends. I’ve been tidying up (early nesting) around the house, Braegan’s been going to school, and Jeff has been taking care of business as usual. He enjoyed a day in Barahona yesterday with some friends yesterday spearfishing. They didn’t catch much, but he enjoyed getting back into the water!
A lot has happened in the last month, so let me fill you in!
In April 2017 our pediatrician heard a heart murmur during Braegan’s well child check up that was then diagnosed as a Pulmonary Valve Stenosis. We followed up with an echocardiogram in Fort Wayne, Indiana in May 2017 and an appointment with a pediatric cardiologist in Fort Wayne. We learned at this point that Braegan’s heart had a resistance with a gradient of 25%. We then had an appointment in October 2017 with a pediatric cardiologist in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and learned that the resistance had dropped to 19%, this was great news since her original baseline was 25%. Our Fort Wayne pediatric cardiologist told us we could continue getting imaging in the DR and share the results with him. We returned to our Dominican pediatric cardiologist at the end of March for an appointment in Santo Domingo to learn that the resistance has improved again to now 15%. This is so encouraging!
For the first half of my pregnancy, I received care from visiting US doctors. I had ultrasounds my ultrasounds and lab work done in San Juan. I did some research on OBs in Santo Domingo and talked with some friends who have delivered here. I was able to get in with a great practice of doctors who specialize in natural birth. I have been encouraged by their care. Last week we had an appointment with a sonographer for the full morphological sonogram. The doctor told us that the baby is developing right on track and looks perfect. I will have an appointment with my doctor in Fort Wayne when we are there next week. I will then have my next Dominican appointment at 28 weeks. Last week’s team also surprised us with a little baby shower. We have a great start on diapers and clothes for the first few months. Braegan is getting more excited about a baby brother than she originally was since she was hoping for a sister.
We will be heading out next week to spend a week in Fort Wayne, Indiana, followed by a week in Peoria, Illinois. We are looking forward to catching up with friends and family, some of which we haven’t seen in over a year.
Prayers for safety and health throughout the next month as we are traveling.