Her Heart Condition

Monday was Karissa's appointment with the pediatric cardiologist at Children's Hospital.  The technician took an echocardiogram of her heart.  It is basically a 2D ultrasound of her heart.  The doctor was able to see the hole and measured it.  He said her condition is called Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA).  All fetuses in the womb has a Ductus Arteriosus, a hole in the heart where oxygen rich blood can bypass the lung to get to the body.  This is because fetuses does not need to breath through the lungs.  But when the baby is born and starts to breath on her own, this hole should close.  Karissa's hole measures 1.5 mm, which is 50% smaller than what was reported to us from China.  This is great news!  That means it is closing up on its own.  The cardiologist said that we have nothing to worry about and there is a 85% chance that it will completely closed on its own.  So for now all we have to do is monitor it.  If it doesn't close in a couple of years, then he would recommend surgery. 

What a relieve this is.  We praise God for His healing hands upon Karissa.  Hebron and I felt strongly that the Lord called us to adopt a child with a medical condition.  God, in His infinte wisdom, knows what we can and cannot handle.  So He gave us a child with a very minor condition.  He used her heart condition to speed up the adoption process for us.  If we did not step out in faith, even though we were nervous about the unknown, and pursue a child with a medical condition, we would still be waiting.  Choosing to adopt a child with a medical condition was not what I orignally intended to do, so I was reluctant at the beginning.  After we proceeded with this decision, I was still a bit scared.  Everytime those fears surfaced, I felt God telling me to have faith and trust in Him.  Now that I can see the entire picture, I realized that everything was part of God's plan.  His plan is always the best.