Finally, the Conclusion

I know these recent posts have been unbelievably long and I promise to get back to my "normal" style just as soon as the rest of this story is told. Bear with me. Again, thanks for reading and for the support.

PART 3~

After the rocky start to this pregnancy, things smoothed out and went extremely well for the next several months. Until the half-way ultrasound. I was very nervous to even go to this appointment, because this had been the u/s at which we discovered Owen had died.

My worry (as worry usually is) was wasted as everything in the exam looked normal. Until the radiologist read the reports. It appeard that one of the baby's kidneys was enlarged, which in and of itself wasn't necessarily a big deal. Another ultrasound was scheduled to determine if the kidney was continuing to enlarge. It was, so we were sent to a high-risk specialist.

We went to this appointment thinking that worst case, the baby would eventually need kidney surgery. However, the news we got was much more severe than that.

Back in the dr's private office after a two hour u/s, he informed us that not only did our baby have an enlarged kidney, but that he also had a major heart defect. An AV Canal Defect which means that blood can travel cross-wise through all four chambers of the heart. It would require immediate surgery after he was born. Then he told us that because we were dealing with more than one organ and because of the specific heart defect, that the baby would either have Down Syndrome or Trisomy 18 or 13, which meant he wouldn't live longer than a year.

How is a person supposed to react to that kind of news? My brain didn't accept what he was telling me. I didn't hear the word syndrome ~ I heard "symptom". It took several minutes for me to realize the enormity of what this doctor was telling us.

I opted to have an amniocentesis, not because I agree with the procedure, but because I know me and I knew I would explode without knowing for sure. The doctor urged us to have the test because it would better prepare the surgeons for what they would be up against.

I had the amnio and because of the stress of the day and the invasiveness of the amnio, I went into labor. Fortunately, they were able to stop it since I was only 6 1/2 months pregnant.

Three days later, we got the wonderful news that genetically, the baby would be fine. I will never forget the feeling of utter relief that day I got the phone call. Suddenly, the heart and kidney situation didn't seem as bad. At least until the actual birth date and surgery got closer.

More good news came in my 9th month. We met with the pediatric cardiologist and after taking a good look at the baby's heart through high tech u/s, his defect was downgraded to an Atrial Septal defect with a Mitral Valve issue. A much better diagnosis than before requiring surgery sometime in the later part of the first year of life.

Finally, the big day arrived. A c-section was planned two weeks early because the weight of the baby was already 10 pounds. I was nervous that the outcome would not be the joy that I longed for. When I heard his brand new baby cry on that morning, my heart felt so full, it almost hurt. To hear new life was a moment that words can't adequately describe. Then it got even better. The neonatal team that had been in the delivery room to take him away, examined him and said that he could stay with us. We enjoyed holding him and feeding him and just looking at this little miracle that defied all the odds.

Two days later, he was rushed to the NICU anyway for unrelated matters. Somehow, no one knows for sure, he collapsed a lung. Once discovered, it wasn't life threatening, but he wasn't allowed to be with me or leave the hospital until it was resolved. Again, I had to leave the hospital without my baby, but on Halloween of last year, we were finally bringing our miracle boy home.

Fast forward one year and our son is just about to celebrate his first birthday! He's since had a succesful kidney surgery and his heart is completely healed on it's own.

He is my daily reminder to never give up on the beauty of my dreams!!!!!