Where our journey began...

As we gathered for the 20 week ultrasound, Jordan was being a difficult "Kleckley" boy. He wouldn't be still for the tech to get good images of his heart. We were told that day we needed to see a high risk pregnancy doctor. After waiting patiently for two weeks, we saw Dr. Edwards at PPMH. He and his staff told us there was definitely a heart defect but we would need to wait until Baby Jordan’s heart was at week 28 before he would send us to Atlanta. On week 28, we would be seeing Dr. Videlefsky the Pediatric Cardiologist in Atlanta. When we arrived at the appointment we were scared but ready to hear the diagnosis so we could prepare to give Jordan the best care. As we sat in the waiting room, there was a little boy that was precious but being a typical "boy”. We watched him and wondered what type of heart problem he had, he looked "normal and healthy.” They scanned me and then Dr. V then told us that Baby Jordan has Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. It felt as if a bomb had torn out our hearts. We were devastated! Our hopes for a good report were no longer a reality. It is frightening to know that those few words were so overwhelming in every element of our lives. As we left the room, we all had tears flowing down our faces still in shock from the news. The same little boy we had seen earlier in the waiting room was sitting in a nurse’s lap. She told us his name is Jacob. Jacob was diagnosed with HLHS four years earlier and has gone through all three of his surgeries and is doing wonderfully. I know God put Jacob in the doctor's office that day! By the end of the day, we had seen two more doctors and the road we would be traveling had been carefully but rapidly laid out for us.

What we know at this point is that we will be seeing several doctors from here on out to make sure Jordan will get the best treatment as soon as he is born. We will be making several trips to Atlanta to meet with the cardiologist and surgeon as well as the doctor that will do the delivery. He will have to undergo 3 stages of open heart surgery during the first few years of his life. If all goes as planned, we will leave for Atlanta on Oct 3rd to induce labor with Jordan being born on Oct 4th. During the first week of his life, he will have the "Norwood procedure." He will stay in ICU for approximately 3 weeks. During the last week we will be allowed to stay with him as they monitor us before they allow us to come home. The second stage is the "bidirectional Glenn." It will be preformed between the age of 4-6 months. The last stage is the "fontan procedure" and it's usually preformed at 18 months to 3 years. HLHS is a combination of many congenital heart conditions, but essentially, the left side of the heart doesn't develop the way it should. This is the side of the heart that pushes the "good" blood back to the body. In years past, these "blue babies" would only survive a few days after birth.

- Hypoplastic left heart syndrome occurs in up to 4 out of every 10,000 births

- It is one of the top three heart abnormalities to cause problems the newborn

- HLHS occurs slightly more often in boys than in girls

- The cause of HLHS is unknown. HLHS occurs sporadically, with no clear reason evident for their development.

While we still have many questions and know that the unknown is always frightening, we do know that God has given us Jordan for a reason and that he will be a true blessing to our lives.

You're not an assembly-line product, mass-produced without thought. You're a custom designed, one-of-a-kind, original masterpiece. He carefully mixed the DNA recipe that created you. Praise God for this incredible personal attention to detail that God gave in designing each of us: "You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thanks for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous" Psalm 139:13-14