Vera Good Cardiologist Visit and The Big Day Has Been Set

First of all, our doctor's appointments continue to go really well. Max is still active as ever and continues to surprise the ultrasound techs and the cardiologist.

Last Friday was our cardiologist visit and his heart rate continued to maintain in the 60's. Dr. Vera (hence the post title...I know it's cheesy) was very optimistic after the visit. There continues to be no further deterioration in the structure of his heart and she said he may even be a little better. More importantly, she thinks there is a strong chance that Max may even be able to go home without a pacemaker. There are still a lot of unknowns, but Max has really impressed everyone so far. If he continues to maintain a heart rate in the 60's post birth and his overall health is good, then we may only be in the NICU for a few days before they let us take the little guy home. Let's pray for that.

Today, we went back to Vandy to meet with the high risk OB (Dr. Bennett) and the chief neonatologist (Dr. Walsh). Max weighed in at 4 lbs, 9 ozs. and his heart rate was in the mid 60's. Max is still a little guy and falls in the 7th percentile, but last time he was in the less than 5th percentile, so we'll take that. Oh, and Amy will be 35 weeks tomorrow.

Dr. Walsh is essentially in charge of all the nurseries at Vandy. He is such a nice guy and did a great job of walking us through Max's plan of care. He felt we were in a great spot and was also optimistic that Max could go home within a week or so.....without a pacemaker. Can you believe where we are today compared to 6 weeks ago when we started this blog?

We also picked out Max's birthday today. He may disagree with us and pick an earlier date, but everyone is lined up and prepared at this point. So, Max will be here via C-section on July 5. And in honor of the 4th of July we have decided to name him Max Lee Greenwood Muesch....just kidding. It will be Max Thomas Muesch. We will still have bi-weekly BPP's up until the delivery and have 1 last appointment with the cardiologist next week, so we will continue to keep you updated. We are thrilled with all the great news we have been getting and are so proud of Max already. We aren't out of the woods yet, but we are incredibly optimistic. Thanks so much for all your prayers and keep em coming.

Dr. Walsh, the neonatologist

Dr. Bennett, the high risk OB that will deliver Max