Baby Heart Parts-101

Every mom can tell you that that average ultra-sound is a very close-mouthed affair. The ultra-sound technicians are usually very friendly, but avoiding telling you anything concrete about what they are seeing on the screen.They seem to understand that the slightest frown, or the simplest "What's that?" can start a pregnant mom panic. All this is easily avoided by communicating no information whatsoever. Smart move on their part. I would have panicked much sooner if anyone had given me the smallest of opinions in my first 2 ultrasounds.
Today was a totally different experience. Kelly, my echocardiogram technician, seemed to have a "Well, now that we've already given you the bad news....let's talk about everything"  attitude. It was awesome! I felt like I was in an hour long pediatric cardiology class, with a student ratio of 1:1. We talked about everything I had learned so far, then he began to teach me what we were seeing on the screen. Emmett was completely cooperative today (a first!) and he laid flat on his back to give a perfect view of the heart. It looked exactly like it looks in the medical books. You could see all the valves, both ventricles (one slightly larger than the other), the aortic valve, even the blood flow into the heart from the umbilical cord. He showed me several things that Dr. Marx (Boston) had pointed out to him- the left ventricle is still apexing (shaping correctly), all valves are still working, mitral valve looks small but good, etc.
The most important piece of information from the visit was that the left side of Emmett's heart is still growing. Growth is good!
He even related some cases he had seen where even though the left side of the heart ends up hypoplastic (too small), it was big enough to perform its job (it would probably have to be at least 75% of its normal size or larger) and surgery was avoided. He even mentioned a few times when the left side effectively "caught up" to where it should be after birth. Even though these are clearly BEST case scenarios which may never apply to us, it was comforting to know that it was even possible. I will grab on to every piece of hope that is thrown my way like a ravenous dog! I don't believe that getting our hopes up will hurt us in any way.
All in all, it was a very informative, positive day. The official diagnosis remains to be seen.