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Congenital Heart Disease: How I Learned to Cope

© Kristine Raymond

On september 5th, 1999, my in-laws and I were enjoying a leisurely vacation near Hampton Beach, New-Hampshire. My fiancee and I have a real passion for camping, and despite my being eight months pregnant, I staunchly insisted that I would have no trouble "roughing it" along with the rest of the family. Secretly, I did agonize a bit over the state of my swollen ankles and aching back, but I was determined not to allow these minor obstacles ruin a perfectly good opportunity to get out of the city and close to the ocean. Our family lives in Montreal, Canada, and this is not something I frequently have the pleasure of doing.

Everything about our weekend "away-from-it-all" was perfect. We enjoyed cozy campfires and unseasonably mild weather...even the nights spent in my fiancee's tent were made comfortable due to the presence of a very forgiving air mattress. In retrospect, I realize that I probably endeavoured to do too much over those few action-packed days, but at the time, such thoughts could not have been further removed from my mind.

On Labour Day morning, I awoke to a disturbing gush of fluid that I first assumed to be the product of an over-stressed bladder. I was acutely embarrassed, and my mind was already stewing over the horrifiying fact that I would have to find some way to explain this little "accident" to my fiancee. As potential excuses floated lamely through my head, I became aware of the fact that I hadn't stopped "leaking". That is when it hit me: my water had broken miles away from home, and in the wilderness to boot! I tried not to panic, but it was difficult to remain calm.

To make a long story short, my fiancee and I quickly found a hospital that referred us to a maternity clinic in Dartmouth, New-Hampshire. Over the next several days I had a few sporadic contractions, but it soon became apparent that labour was not imminent. Thus, I was deemed stable enough to return to Montreal.

Upon my arrival, I was admitted to the maternity ward of our hospital and was required to endure ten days of strictly enforced bed-rest. Detailed tests performed in New-Hampshire had revealed that my baby's lungs were mature and that she weighed close to five and a half pounds. Having considered this data, my doctor decided to induce labour at 34 weeks gestation, as the risks associated with potential infection by this time substantially outweighed the risks of prematurity, which were slight for a baby having attained this stage of development.

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