Jonathan's Story

It all started with a routine ultrasound on Sept. 12th, 2002. I was just past 18 weeks along and went for my ultrasound before hopping on a plane to Nova Scotia to help celebrate my uncle's retirement/birthday. I had a GREAT time while I was there.

On Monday, Sept. 16th, I got a call from my obstetrician while I was downstairs at the bus stop picking up Colin after school. By the time I got back upstairs, the office was closed.

On Tuesday morning, after dropping Colin off at the bus stop, I came back upstairs to call the OB office and before I had a chance to pick up the phone, they called me. I was told that the technician who did my ultrasound had been unable to get a clear picture of all four chambers and that I had an appointment at Sick Kids the following afternoon.

The first thought through my head was, "Not again." Jonathan's big sister Lauren has a heart condition too and we were told that the odds of having another child with a heart condition were pretty slim and that IF we did, it would likely be another girl. Right.

Nothing at Sick Kids moves as fast as we got our appointment unless it's serious, so I already knew we were in for a ride.

Scott and I arrived at the hospital for our 2:45 p.m. appt. on Sept. 18th. There were other fetal echos ahead of us so we weren't seen until almost 4 p.m. Having seen my fair share of echos with Lauren, I knew as soon as the technician made the first the pass over the heart that something was VERY wrong. Our fears were confirmed when the echo was done and we met with the cardiologist...