24 weeks into my pregnancy with my second child, the doctor discovered an irregular heartbeat. She reassured me that there was likely nothing wrong, but wanted us to go back to the maternal fetal medicine doctor for an ultrasound.

The following week at that appointment, the ultrasound discovered there was something wrong with the baby’s heart. The doctor worked quickly to get us an appointment at our local children’s hospital that day. The head of cardiology at the children’s hospital, after several long echocardiograms, told us he thought it looked like an aneurysm on the outside wall of her heart but that he had never seen this in a fetus.

The following day the doctor had learned from colleagues that this can in fact occur, although it is very rare. He wanted to admit me to the hospital and begin arrhythmia medication which would cross the placenta and work on the heart of the baby.

While this aggressive treatment seemed to present options for the baby, it presented risks for me. What about my child at home? What if this medicine affected me? The cardiologist was there to treat and try to save the life of the baby. But what about me, where was my care provider? After much of my own research it appeared that the prognosis for this pregnancy was poor. The complications of the aneurysm with the arrhythmia rarely had a good survival rate. With this knowledge I felt I needed to go back to the doctor who was my provider to find a balanced perspective.

Our MFM (maternal fetal medicine) doctor had done much of the same research and did not disagree with our conclusions. She was so patient and supportive and helped provide us with the best information she could so we could make a decision. With the very grey diagnosis and conditions seeming to worsen, we made the heart wrenching choice to ensure this child did not suffer, did not gasp for breath when her lungs may not work, did not have an aneurysm rupture. Our baby was born sleeping at 26.5 weeks. We were lucky to have such a compassionate care team. Their understanding was important in our subsequent pregnancy, too.