While it was really fun finding out the gender, I knew that we weren't just looking at that we needed to check everything and make sure he's growing like he should. Our doctor informed us after the ultrasound that they found an abnormality. He sent us to a specialist, who we were able to get in and see the next day. Dr. Beauchamp is a perinatoligist. She confirmed that our baby does in fact have a defect. He has a neural tube defect called Spina Bifida. Malone and I were able to consult with a neurologist right after the ultrasound who gave us more information and gave us our options. We have two options, which both require surgery. The first and common option is to go to University of Utah, have the baby, and transfer him over to Primary Children's Hospital and have a C-section at 37 weeks and operate on the baby immediately. Or we can operate prenatal, or while still in the womb. The second option has had really great results overall giving the baby a better chance at a normal life. Malone and I are taking a few steps towards the second option, doing a prenatal operation. There are a few steps to take to first find out if we're even eligible for this operation, which will require us to go to a hospital in San Francisco. The University of San Francisco is one of three hospitals in the country that participated in clinical trials with this procedure. So right now we are just doing some preliminary exams before we even go out to San Francisco. There we'll spend 2-3 days doing all sorts of c-scans, ultrasounds, and everything to find out exactly what we're dealing with. We'll talk to all the doctors and people we'd be associating with during that time. If they find us eligible for this procedure, Malone and I will have to decide if it's what we want to do. If we choose to not go through with it, we'll come home and proceed with option one. If we choose to continue and do the procedure, we'll stay in San Francisco. I'll have the operation, spend a couple days in the hospital. Then once I am discharged, I must stay in the area for 2-3 weeks for follow-ups. During that time I will be on pretty strict bedrest. If I show no signs of premature labor, I'll be able to go home and finish up my pregnancy there. Then at 37ish weeks I'll go to Primary Children's in SLC and do the C-section there. If all goes well, our baby will have a decreased chance of needing a shunt, increased chance of better mobility/motor skills, and decreased chance of permanent chari malformation in the brain.
The entire situation is terrifying and heartbreaking. There is so much that is unknown at this point it's hard to plan on anything really. Malone is still in school, his last semester. He's had to skip a few classes to go to Dr. appointments with me and is struggling to keep up. He notified his teachers of our situation, and most of them were really good about working with us. One of them was really stubborn and told Malone to defer this semester and come back next semester. This is not an option for us. Malone has already looked into getting jobs following his graduation and with the baby coming, we just HAVE to be done this semester. We are hoping that this teacher comes around.
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