Baby Caleb Akin

“Is he breathing?” I asked the doctors with complete terror of their answers. I had just delivered my first son and unfortunately my focus was on determining if he was alive; and if so, for how long…

I don’t think my stomach has ever sunk as much as it did the second the doctor said he wasn’t able to see my baby boy’s heart chambers. He was calm and cautious as he explained that it could be just that they were not able to get a good view but the room started closing in as he told me I would be going to a specialist the next day to get a better view. This appointment was a turning point in the pregnancy of my first child as well as my life…

I went in alone for my anatomy scan at twenty weeks as my then husband was working and everything had been so smooth I thought nothing of it. After the scan I went back with the doctor and he began to explain they weren’t able to see all four heart chambers clearly and he wanted me to go to a perinatologist the next day for a better look. The next day, after a much longer scan, the storm of bad news began. I was informed that my baby boy had Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and a significant diaphragmatic hernia. These things aren’t common in and of themselves and even less so …