Heart Mommas

Hey ladies! Back at my December ultrasound, we found out our baby has a heart defect. We had a follow up scan done yesterday, and the high risk ultrasound doctor (NOT the pediatric cardiologist) said it looks to him like our baby has COA--coarctation of the aorta. Earlier on, he also mentioned aortic stenosis, so I'm not completely sure what the cardiologist is going to diagnose when we finally see her in another few weeks.

Anyways, I know surgery is most likely going to take place shortly after the baby is born, and I've already been told that I'll have to deliver at a bigger, more high tech hospital than the one we have here. In the meantime, I was wondering if any of you heart mommas had any advice or wanted to share your stories to give me a better idea of what to expect or plan for. Also, if there's anything you wish you'd known then that you know now, that would be helpful too.  

My daughter had COA, along with several other CHD. She had her COA surgery at 7 weeks old. They went in via left thorocotomy incision, corrected it, and she was out of the hospital 5 days post op. The thorocotomy incision is a LOT less invasive than midlines are, and a LOT easier to get better from.