Well, I can't believe that we're weeks away from delivery! It's definitely starting to feel real!
We've felt at this point that we generally knew what to expect but we needed some more information. So therefore we walked into this last appointment hoping to get a better idea of what the delivery will be like along with the recovery for both me and the baby.
It was a routine check-up...well as routine as these check-ups are. The doctor performed an ultrasound and measured the ventricles in the brain, checked for movement in the legs, and checked the opening and sac on the baby's back. The ventricles looked approximately the same size. This is fantastic news! It doesn't mean that they won't increase in size but if they stay roughly the same size, growing in sync with the baby, it gives us more hope for when the baby is born that he/she won't need a shunt. The muscles in the legs weren't atrophied which is also great news! We've got something to work with! Lastly, the doctor checked the sac on the baby's back. Our doctor said that the sac as of right now is about the size of a baseball. We asked the doctor what she thought would be the best option for delivery. Her recommendation at this point is that we do a c-section. Doing a c-section minimzes the pressure on the sac. The last thing that we want is for the sac to rupture! There's still a chance that I will have a vaginal delivery but if the sac continues to grow with the baby, as it has up to this point, we will most likely opt for a c-section.
It's exciting to be this close to meeting our little one! Our next appointments with both our doctors at UAB (Birmingham) and in Prattville are in the beginning of April. Meanwhile, we are getting the house cleaned up and the baby's nursery ready. It's so fun seeing it come together! Watch out for our next post after our April appointments!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Our Recent Appointments
Whew! It's been a busy week. We recently returned from appointments in Philadelphia. We were exploring the option of fetal surgery. They performed a 2 hour long ultrasound, an MRI, and a pediatric ECHOcardiogram. Through the ultrasound and MRI, we discovered that the baby's opening is higher than originally diagnosed. Rather than a L4 lesion, the baby has a L2/L3 lesion. This is significant because wherever the opening may be, it indicates to some degree what we can expect for the baby's mobility and bowel and bladder control. We had looked into this option to have fetal surgery ourselves. The theory behind fetal surgery is that by repairing the baby's opening in-utero, the surgery could possibly reduce the need for a shunt when the baby is born and possibly give the baby more mobility. To sum it up in a nutshell, we learned a lot of information that made for a compelling case to go through with fetal surgery. With that being said, there were far more risks that outweighed the very small chance of reward. In the end, we decided to go with the traditional route because we couldn't bear the thought of possibly losing the baby, which was a risk. This decision caused us a lot of heartache but we truly feel like it's the best one.
Yesterday was our appointment in Birmingham. We met with a pediatric neurosurgeon, another OB-GYN, an RN, a physical therapist, and the coordinator of the spina bifida clinic at UAB. The neurosurgeon gave us a summary of what we can expect when the baby is born based on where the lesion is and how big the sac attached to the opening is. At this point in the pregnancy the neurosurgeon predicts that the baby will need a shunt soon after he/she is born.
Our meeting with the physical therapist and coordinator of the spina bifida clinic gave us insight into our baby's future. Spina bifida clinic is a program that the baby will be involved in after the he/she is born. Through this clinic we will see a physical therapist and other doctors that are necessary in our baby's development.
We can't begin to express how much heartache this last week has brought. Forced to make these kinds of decisions is something that just cannot be expressed in words. Both options presented advantages and disadvantages. We spent a lot of time seeking the Lord and meeting with some of the best doctors in the country. Though that was difficult, it gave us an opportunity to learn new information and have different opinions from a variety of physicians. We'd like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who has been praying for us and helping us through this entire process. Your prayers and the Lord's joy are what enables us to approach each day with smiles on our faces. We love this little baby and seeing his/her face on ultrasound makes our hearts melt. As a reward, we now have 27 pictures of our baby and most likey there are more to come! When you think of us please continue to pray for peace with our decision, hope from the Lord and healing for the baby. In the words of a dear friend "We've put our hope in God, now lets give Him the opportunity to show off!"
Yesterday was our appointment in Birmingham. We met with a pediatric neurosurgeon, another OB-GYN, an RN, a physical therapist, and the coordinator of the spina bifida clinic at UAB. The neurosurgeon gave us a summary of what we can expect when the baby is born based on where the lesion is and how big the sac attached to the opening is. At this point in the pregnancy the neurosurgeon predicts that the baby will need a shunt soon after he/she is born.
Our meeting with the physical therapist and coordinator of the spina bifida clinic gave us insight into our baby's future. Spina bifida clinic is a program that the baby will be involved in after the he/she is born. Through this clinic we will see a physical therapist and other doctors that are necessary in our baby's development.
We can't begin to express how much heartache this last week has brought. Forced to make these kinds of decisions is something that just cannot be expressed in words. Both options presented advantages and disadvantages. We spent a lot of time seeking the Lord and meeting with some of the best doctors in the country. Though that was difficult, it gave us an opportunity to learn new information and have different opinions from a variety of physicians. We'd like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who has been praying for us and helping us through this entire process. Your prayers and the Lord's joy are what enables us to approach each day with smiles on our faces. We love this little baby and seeing his/her face on ultrasound makes our hearts melt. As a reward, we now have 27 pictures of our baby and most likey there are more to come! When you think of us please continue to pray for peace with our decision, hope from the Lord and healing for the baby. In the words of a dear friend "We've put our hope in God, now lets give Him the opportunity to show off!"
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Getting bigger!
Well, I'm definitely getting bigger! Our last ultrasound measured the baby to be just over a pound!
Recently we had another appointment. Since my pregnancy is high risk, the doctors will be monitoring the baby with ultrasound more regularly. Some of what they are looking at is the baby's skull and brain to make sure the ventricles stay open and measure as normal. In many cases of spina bifida, hydrocephalus occurs. The opening on the spine causes traction, which pulls the brain back. When the brain is pulled back, it closes some of the ventricles in the skull. This then causes swelling. To counteract this problem, they put in a shunt. A shunt involves a small tube that prevents the brain from swelling.
They also gave us a dvd of the ultrasound at this appointment. We love watching all 7 minutes and 29 seconds every chance we get! It's such a joy everytime we get to see our little peanut!
Our next appointment is on February 4th. This is a very important appointment because we will be meeting with a panel of doctors and nurses. The panel will include the baby's neurosurgeon, my OB-GYN, a geneticist, several nurses, and others. They will do another ultrasound so that the assembled panel of doctors can better see the spinal opening. Naturally, we have many questions that we are hoping to get answered. We would appreciate your prayers for the upcoming appointment.
Thank you to everyone who has been lifting our little baby up in prayer! We feel very blessed. We continue to pray for God to heal and that He would be glorified through this!
Kim
Recently we had another appointment. Since my pregnancy is high risk, the doctors will be monitoring the baby with ultrasound more regularly. Some of what they are looking at is the baby's skull and brain to make sure the ventricles stay open and measure as normal. In many cases of spina bifida, hydrocephalus occurs. The opening on the spine causes traction, which pulls the brain back. When the brain is pulled back, it closes some of the ventricles in the skull. This then causes swelling. To counteract this problem, they put in a shunt. A shunt involves a small tube that prevents the brain from swelling.
They also gave us a dvd of the ultrasound at this appointment. We love watching all 7 minutes and 29 seconds every chance we get! It's such a joy everytime we get to see our little peanut!
Our next appointment is on February 4th. This is a very important appointment because we will be meeting with a panel of doctors and nurses. The panel will include the baby's neurosurgeon, my OB-GYN, a geneticist, several nurses, and others. They will do another ultrasound so that the assembled panel of doctors can better see the spinal opening. Naturally, we have many questions that we are hoping to get answered. We would appreciate your prayers for the upcoming appointment.
Thank you to everyone who has been lifting our little baby up in prayer! We feel very blessed. We continue to pray for God to heal and that He would be glorified through this!
Kim
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Baby Olson
It's hard to believe that we are already halfway through! The baby is 21 weeks old. The due date was readjusted at our last appointment. Currently it is May 18th. We're so excited!
On December 16th we had an ultrasound. We unexpectedly found out that our baby has a birth defect called spina bifida. Spina bifida occurs in 7 out of every 10,000 births. Although this is a rare occurence, spina bifida is actually one of the most common major birth defects. There are varying degrees of severity based on where the opening is on the spinal cord. In the most severe cases, the defect is very high on the spine, at the base of the brain. This would cause little to no brain function and complete paralysis. The lower the defect on the spine, the better. Essentially, all of the nerves below the opening will be damaged. At the lowest part of the spine, near the tail bone, paralysis is probably unlikely however, there is the potential for loss of bladder and bowel control.
As with most situations like ours, we were referred to a specialist at a high risk pregnancy clinic in Birmingham, AL. Our appointment was at the beginning of January. The doctor performed a detailed ultrasound evaluating everything from the brain and skull to each individual toe. After the doctor was finished with our ultrasound, he gave us his prognosis. He found an opening towards the bottom of the spine in the lumbar area (lower back). It isn't on the lowest point, which is what we were hoping, but it is relatively low which is good news. Based on the average case, kids with the opening where our baby's is will experience difficulty walking and loss of bladder and bowel control.
Originally, the delivery would have been in Montgomery. However, because of the special circumstances we will be going to Birmingham for the delivery. After the baby is born, he/she (we still decided not to find out!) will go into surgery within the first 24 hours and a neurosurgeon will close the opening by pulling muscle and skin over it. This will also prevent the baby from getting dangerous infections.
Obviously this is difficult news to hear as a first-time parent. However, we refuse to let this interrupt the joy of receiving our firstborn child. If possible, we love this baby more now than before! We believe that God has a divine destiny for this little one and we hope to become better people through this experience. Even though this certainly isn't an ideal situation, our greatest wish is that this baby will not come into the world surrounded by disappointment. Rather, please pray for miraculous healing and above all that God would be glorified through this experience. We are so thankful for the joy that God continues to give us everyday despite these circumstances!
Below are some websites that we found helpful after we initially found out:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/spina-bifida/DS00417
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spina_bifida
On December 16th we had an ultrasound. We unexpectedly found out that our baby has a birth defect called spina bifida. Spina bifida occurs in 7 out of every 10,000 births. Although this is a rare occurence, spina bifida is actually one of the most common major birth defects. There are varying degrees of severity based on where the opening is on the spinal cord. In the most severe cases, the defect is very high on the spine, at the base of the brain. This would cause little to no brain function and complete paralysis. The lower the defect on the spine, the better. Essentially, all of the nerves below the opening will be damaged. At the lowest part of the spine, near the tail bone, paralysis is probably unlikely however, there is the potential for loss of bladder and bowel control.
As with most situations like ours, we were referred to a specialist at a high risk pregnancy clinic in Birmingham, AL. Our appointment was at the beginning of January. The doctor performed a detailed ultrasound evaluating everything from the brain and skull to each individual toe. After the doctor was finished with our ultrasound, he gave us his prognosis. He found an opening towards the bottom of the spine in the lumbar area (lower back). It isn't on the lowest point, which is what we were hoping, but it is relatively low which is good news. Based on the average case, kids with the opening where our baby's is will experience difficulty walking and loss of bladder and bowel control.
Originally, the delivery would have been in Montgomery. However, because of the special circumstances we will be going to Birmingham for the delivery. After the baby is born, he/she (we still decided not to find out!) will go into surgery within the first 24 hours and a neurosurgeon will close the opening by pulling muscle and skin over it. This will also prevent the baby from getting dangerous infections.
Obviously this is difficult news to hear as a first-time parent. However, we refuse to let this interrupt the joy of receiving our firstborn child. If possible, we love this baby more now than before! We believe that God has a divine destiny for this little one and we hope to become better people through this experience. Even though this certainly isn't an ideal situation, our greatest wish is that this baby will not come into the world surrounded by disappointment. Rather, please pray for miraculous healing and above all that God would be glorified through this experience. We are so thankful for the joy that God continues to give us everyday despite these circumstances!
Below are some websites that we found helpful after we initially found out:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/spina-bifida/DS00417
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spina_bifida
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