Testing Testing 1....2....3....

The first of many posts that will keep the loved ones and the curious informed. For those who have stumbled onto this by mishap or hearsay, my wife and I found out in late September 2010 that, after a few weeks of dedicated trying, we were pregnant with our first child.  Everything was wonderful, my work and school were flexible enough to allow us to move back to Idaho Falls, ID to be closer to our families. We continued to visit our OB/GYN in Pocatello, Idaho and had our first ultrasound was on January 4th. Everything looked great; baby was uncooperative and really made the ultrasonographer work for her money!  We decided at that time that we wouldn't find out what the gender was and would wait for the surprise. They took some measurements and gave us a due date, May 27th.  During this ultrasound they were unable to get a good look at the face and our doctor decided to schedule a second one to make sure there wasn't anything abnormal.  We got a cute recording of the baby kicking around and trying to push the transducer probe away.

March 22nd the second ultrasound.

We couldn't wait to get a good look at our baby's face. My wife and I had been discussing for the past few days if we should find out the gender. When the ultrasonographer asked us if we still wanted to wait to know the gender, the curiosity got the best of us and we said we wanted to know.  Within seconds we found out what it was and were ecstatic, however, the technician didn't seem to really share in our delight as much as I thought she might. She seemed distracted but I quickly ignored it. The ultrasound took much longer this time and the baby was being a real pain in the stomach, it would wiggle around and kicked back at the transducer probe with a lot of, what seemed to me as, resentment. After the ultrasound we went to a patient room and patiently waited for the doctor to come and consult with us. Almost as soon as the door shut my wife asked me if the ultrasonographer was acting a little weird. My wife then went on to say that there must be something wrong with the baby. I, of course, being the comforting and arrogant person I am, went on to tell her not to worry and that our baby was as tough as nails and a real mean kicker.  She then rolled her eyes and gave out a half-hearted laugh.

We went back to the waiting room to wait for our appointment with the doctor.  As soon as she came in she told us they had seen a problem on the ultrasound.  She said it looked like the baby had a diaphragmatic hernia and that it had some of its intestines up in the thoracic cavity. Sonya, my beautiful and loving wife, could barely hold back the tears as our doctor told us this horrible news. She was tough though and was able to ask questions. I, on the other-hand, couldn't feel my face or move. It felt as though I had been hit, point blank, in the stomach with a buckshot that was laced with sulfuric acid. The doctor went on to say that she wasn't very familiar with this kind of thing and that they had a specialist from Salt Lake, UT that comes down every two weeks that dealt with abnormal cases like this. She swiftly set up an appointment and answered, to the best of her ability, all of the questions we had. 

March 28^th meeting the specialist
            The specialist from Salt Lake did another ultrasound, confirmed the prognosis and then took some measurements. Both my mother and Sonya’s mother tagged along on this visit and asked all the questions you could think of in that kind of situation. We got a lot of information.  We then were put on a regiment of non-stress tests every week and he said that we would need to deliver in Salt Lake. A week after meeting with the specialist we received the shot for boosting lung tissue growth for the baby.  This was necessary because the lungs did not have enough space to develop fully since there were intestines in the thoracic cavity taking up room.  It wouldn’t fix the problem, but it would give the baby an advantage. 
April 18-19^th Going to U of U Hospital for the first time
            We met with a bunch of doctors and discussed what the game plan would be for when the baby is born. If Sonya didn’t go into labor by the May 18^th then they would induce her that night. We would then most ideally have the baby about 9 am the next day.  We are hoping that they baby will deliver naturally as to reduce the likelihood of complications but we might have to do a C-section. They would take the baby as soon as it is born it will be handed through a window into the intensive care unit where a doctor and 2 nurses would stabilize the baby. Then later that night, if the baby is doing okay, they would move the baby over to the Primary Children’s hospital. There the neonatologists and pediatric surgeons would work there magic and start doing surgery about 4 days after the baby was born.
            After getting a run down of the schedule they had us do an MRI and a Fetal cardio echo. We needed the MRI because they could see more accuracy the placement of the baby’s internal organs. Now neither the MRI nor the ultrasound can pick up how big the diaphragmatic hernia is but through those tests they reference the internal organ placement and make assumptions on how big it is. One of the references is the position of the liver, if it is down in the abdomen that means that there is most likely a smaller hernia. The other reference they use is on what side the intestines are poking through. If it is on the anatomical left side then the baby has a higher likely hood of surviving along with if the liver is down the baby will have a much higher chance of surviving. They found that our baby’s hernia is on the left side and the liver is down. This means our baby’s chances, although not 100%, are much better than we first expected.  The fetal cardio echo was to check the heart. It is pretty much the same as an ultrasound but a little more advanced and dealing with the heart only. The fetal cardio echo was great they said that there was nothing to worry about with the heart.  My wife and I were very happy to hear this optimistic news. 
            So, as of right now, we are waiting in Utah to go into labor or get induced. Whatever comes first. I can’t wait for our little baby to come into this world and show how tough it is. I mean really, its coming from some pretty tough families that are really good at making lemonade. My wife and I are both optimistic and grateful of the situation that we are in. It could be a lot worse and I am just grateful that my work could let me take this time off. We are also grateful that we found the problem and can be prepared to help our baby every way we can, such as coming to Utah for the birth.  Thank you so much for those that have helped us this far and for your support.
            My next post will be when we either are induced or go into labor. I will post A.S.A.P.