More (almost) Bad News

We had our Cardiologist appointment today at Children's National to get acquainted with the Doctors and get a second opinion of sorts. All along I feel like I've been able to smile and nod and keep my mind right to ask appropriate questions and really understand what is/will be going on. Well, all along we have been told (not that our Cardiologist at Bethesda was lying) that no other complications could be found. Today that came crashing down. The director of the fetal heart program took some extra time with us and explained that there were some things she found concerning, but wouldn't know for sure if it would be a problem until the baby was born and had an EKG. Knowing this, my "holding" time will be greatly reduced and she'll be taken directly to Children's National to be stabilized. She also went over and actually drew pictures of what the surgery actually entails, including the "what ifs"of what they may find after birth. So, worst case scenario, she will need a trip to the cath lab to open some narrowing or obstructed passageways before the actual surgery. The bypass complications that were breezed over before were in the forefront of our conversation, also. In addition to bypass, the surgeon (Doctor Jonas) uses a type of unsettling technology utilizing cold temperatures to control blood flow, and hopefully minimizing long term brain damage and learning disabilities. Using this method, the surgeon will have less than one hour to complete the palliation before the risk of death and brain damage rise significantly.
Parker is helping us choose a name, every day it seems to change. He still kisses my belly and talks about his "baby sister", but I'm not certain that he understands that there is a baby in there. He's been a little on the clingy and needy side for the past week or so, I'm pretty sure he's picking up on my stress and preoccupation with appointments...among other things. I'm worried about how he will actually cope with me not being around. Hopefully whoever is on shift will be able to bring him up to see me on a regular basis so he won't end up with abandonment issues...or jealousy issues. On the other hand, with all of the Grandparents around, he just may end up not missing me at all.