Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Gastroschisis

I wasn't going to talk about this because it is a very emotional and personal subject. However, I figured family and close friends should know. On the 10th of December 2008, Brandon and I went in to find out the sex of our baby. Those of you who have had children know what a tender moment that is, holding hands and seeing your little baby moving, heart beating, alive!! It's crazy how pregnancy works. It really is a miracle! Our radiologist did a very thorough ultrasound to make sure our baby was growing well and functioning as she should be. At the very end of the ultrasound the radiologist went to look to tell the sex of the baby. The gasp on his face said it all. "Oh, what's that?" Both mine and Brandon's hearts dropped. "What's what?" They called in another radiologist and then in a doctor from surgery before they could even tell us what was going on! A million thoughts were running through both of our heads. The doctor told us that our baby has gastroschisis.
What is gastroschisis? Gastroschisis (gas-tro-ski-sis) is an opening in the abdominal wall through which the internal organs push outside of the baby's body (see illustration at right). During fetal development the abdominal wall fails to close properly leaving an opening. The opening is usually to the right of the umbilical cord. This anomaly or birth defect is not commonly associated with any other defects except bowel strictures and/or atresias (narrowing of the intestines). It occurs in approximately 1 out of every 5,000 births. The cause of gastroschisis is unknown, but it is associated with younger maternal age and almost never occurs in mothers over 30 years of age. It is not related to anything the mother ate or did during pregnancy. Babies with gastroschisis are at an increased risk for stillbirth. The incidence of stillbirth is approximately 10 percent. These babies will often be smaller than normally expected. This means the baby weighs less than we would expect for the gestational age. A baby with gastroschisis will need to go to surgery soon after birth.Talk about how one word that you have never heard of can change your life. Since this original diagnosis we have met with several specialist who will perform the surgery and deliver the baby. We also found out that our babies small intestines are the only thing on the outside of the body, as opposed to other worse cases of several other organs. We will have to have the baby at the University of Utah and the doctors anticipate that we will be in the NICU anywhere from a month to three months. The doctors reassured us that once the baby has had the surgery and is released from the hospital there should be no further complications or lasting effects. We weren't able to find out at this ultrasound what the sex of our baby was, but now they have confirmed, since we have to have ultrasounds every two to three weeks, that we are having a girl. This whole thing makes me very nervous. They say that we could have our baby anytime after 32 weeks. Which is very soon! Brandon and I know that things will be alright though, even though we don't know why this is happening to our little girl. This situation has already brought us so close together as a family. I believe that everything will work out how it is suppose to. We want this little girl more than anything, and she obviously wants to be here or she wouldn't fight this hard.

15 comments:

  1. Amanda, I'm so glad I found you. I see your mom every now and then, and she had told me you were pregnant, how exciting. Sorry about the gastroschisis, now days, it is pretty treatable, so I hope all goes well. Keep in touch!

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  2. Amanda, congrats on the girl, our little ones will be so close together! My cousin's little boy had gastroschisis, and after his surgery he has been fine, except for the scar where his belly button should be, he has not had any complications and I believe he is 10 now! Good luck with everything!

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  3. Oh Amanda! What a trial, but your little girl will be , & I'm sure already is such a blessing to you. U of U is where Jeanine had her little boy last year & all of the doctors, nurses & surgical teams were amazing. You are in really good hands! Keep us updated! I love you!

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  4. Hello Brandon and Amanda!

    I just found your blog on Ryan and Ali's and decided to check it out. Now we can be blogging friends since we live so far apart! Anyways, I was touched by your strength and faith during this difficult time with your pregnancy. I will keep you and the sweet baby girl in my prayers. I too have faith that all will go well...

    Love,
    Cierra

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  5. I move fast...i just got your email a second ago. I feel for you having to go through this with your baby. When Ben has a cold I get freaked out so...that being said I'm going to join in the club where I have a friend whose baby had the same thing, and as the others have said it was all taken care of just fine. I'm not trying to downplay how hard it must be but it never hurts to hear another good story right? In fact I'm pretty sure that the song on my blog Nobody's Cool was inspired by that baby. I'm excited to follow your blog-I had a lot of fun getting to know you two.
    Just so you know this is Kim not Sethypoo

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  6. I am so glad you found my blog! Good luck with everything. I am sure everything will be fine. Girls are so fun. 78 days isn't very long, and you could go sooner! I am really excited for you and will keep you in my prayers.

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  7. Little girls are sooo much fun. You will make it through all of this with no problem at all. Before you know it you will be taking your little girl home and you will be wonderful parents. Lots of love and prayers!!

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  8. Amanda,

    I just found your blog and wanted to say hi. My thoughts and prayers are with you at this time. You are so strong and it sounds like your little girl is just like you! I hope all goes well.
    My blog is private so if you could send me your email I will send you an invitation to view it. autumallen2@yahoo.com

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  9. Hey Amanda, I had no idea that you were pregnant. I can't believe that you didn't tell me when I saw you at Wheelers a month or so ago. Well congratulations! That is soooo exciting! My cousins baby had the same thing. She is 12 now and she has never had any other complications. Good luck!!!

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  10. Hey I am glad you found me. I hope that thing will go well for you and your little girl. What a blessing they noticed it when they did so you are as pepared as you are. What a shock it would have been for you and the doctors to find out after birth. I will keep you all in my prayes. I love you and wish you the best. Let me know how things go.

    I am going in on tuesday to find out what we are having, I hope all goes well.

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  11. Hi Amanda I seen your blog through other blogs. That is so exciting you are having a girl. You will now wonder what you ever done without them. I can't remember what kept Tod and I busy. I am so sorry to hear about that she has Gastroschisis. I have never heard of it. But now I am very interested and I am going to have to read more into it. Good luck with everything I will be thinking of you. You will be the best parent ever!!

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  12. Hey! I'm so glad you found us! Even though its hard to talk about it I glad you did, because my whole family has been asking and wondering how your little girl is doing. You guys are in our prayers, Lots of Love!

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  13. HI, I am so glad you found me. Can I get your email, so that I can invite you to still see my blog, we are changing it to private on Sunday.
    I have a friend who had a little girl with the same thing and she is doing great, you wouldn't even know. Good luck with everything. Love you guys!

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  14. I just found your blog. I guess I'm kind of slow. Sorry to hear about your baby but glad to hear that it can be taken care of. You two are strong and I'm sure she is also. I know this must be really stressful so be good to your self and have faith.
    Love you.

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  15. Amanda- I love you! Have you had a baby shower yet? If not we need to have one. Please give me a call if nobody has been able to put one together yet 801-376-3336.

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