The Baby Saga
As I posted earlier, we found out in early June that my brother’s fiancée is pregnant. I’ve gotten over my own misgivings for the most part, and am actually looking forward to being an aunt.
But all has not been peachy keen. About a month ago, she went in for her first ultrasound. The baby is a boy, is very active, has all his fingers and toes, and his brain activity is good (they can measure brain activity in-utero? Who knew?) But their first clue that something was up was the placement of his heart. It’s pushed over to one side. It’s beating well and doesn’t seem to be malformed at all, but it’s not in the right spot. After some more tests, they came to the conclusion that he has a Congenetial Diaphragmatic Hernia. What that basically means is that there’s a hole in his diaphragm and his stomach is poking up into his chest cavity, impeding lung development. He’ll be fine till he’s born; you don’t need lungs until then.
After talking to several specialists, they’ve decided to have her give birth in Milwaukee, near the local Children’s Hospital, and to do surgery as soon as possible to repair the defect. With any luck, she’ll carry to term, and his lungs will develop quickly after the repair. The doctors were worried that he may have some other problems; this can often be a sign of other congenital abnormalities, most notably Down’s Syndrome. But she had an amniocentesis and he has NO chromosomal abnormalities. Yay! The doctor said that sometimes this just happens; it’s not genetic and it’s nothing either of them did. He seems to be very healthy other than for this, and the doctor says that as long as the surgery goes well and his lungs develop correctly, he’ll be a normal, healthy little boy. We’re all hoping and praying over here that that’s exactly what happens.
But all has not been peachy keen. About a month ago, she went in for her first ultrasound. The baby is a boy, is very active, has all his fingers and toes, and his brain activity is good (they can measure brain activity in-utero? Who knew?) But their first clue that something was up was the placement of his heart. It’s pushed over to one side. It’s beating well and doesn’t seem to be malformed at all, but it’s not in the right spot. After some more tests, they came to the conclusion that he has a Congenetial Diaphragmatic Hernia. What that basically means is that there’s a hole in his diaphragm and his stomach is poking up into his chest cavity, impeding lung development. He’ll be fine till he’s born; you don’t need lungs until then.
After talking to several specialists, they’ve decided to have her give birth in Milwaukee, near the local Children’s Hospital, and to do surgery as soon as possible to repair the defect. With any luck, she’ll carry to term, and his lungs will develop quickly after the repair. The doctors were worried that he may have some other problems; this can often be a sign of other congenital abnormalities, most notably Down’s Syndrome. But she had an amniocentesis and he has NO chromosomal abnormalities. Yay! The doctor said that sometimes this just happens; it’s not genetic and it’s nothing either of them did. He seems to be very healthy other than for this, and the doctor says that as long as the surgery goes well and his lungs develop correctly, he’ll be a normal, healthy little boy. We’re all hoping and praying over here that that’s exactly what happens.