Did you know that not all newborns are screened for heart problems? I mean, obviously we don’t do an EKG or ECHO on all newborns, but there is a simple, simple test that would identify possible fatal heart defects, and the cost is almost nothing.
With certain heart defects (such as Annabelle’s) a baby’s blood oxygen level is lower than ideal. However, until it gets “too” low, you may not be able to tell by looking at them. And when it gets too low… it may be too late, especially if you’ve already been sent home from the hospital.
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Annabelle – 1 day old |
A simple pulse-oximeter test prior to discharge would catch many of these.
A handful of states have passed bills for mandatory screening of all newborns. Today, a similar bill in TN is going to the financial committee. I know zero about politics or how this works, but I know a lot about congential heart defects and how critical it is to find out about the problem as soon as possible.
We were blessed in that they found Annabelle’s defect during an ultrasound. What looked like at first just the baby not in a good position ended up being a potentially fatal heart defect. So when she was born, we were as prepared as we could have been.
Some mom’s don’t get that heads up. Cora’s story has long been one that is near to my heart, and her mom is a HUGE advocate of the pulse-ox study. If you go read her story, you’ll see why.
were there for THREE HOURS. And it was Annabelle’s naptime and she would
not sleep so she screamed about 90% of the time. And I’m not loving our
new feeding thing either, although I understand we need to do SOMETHING
to inc
Oh man, I'm sorry you had such a stinky day yesterday! (literally and figuratively, right? LOL) Hopefully the stomach thing resolves itself soon. Sounds like you're using your wise mama brain to do what's best.