Baby P's fight against gastroschisis
Donation protected
At our 12 week genetic scan it was a day that forever changed our lives. I went into the ultrasound extremely excited to see my baby actually look like a baby. Matthew had to be away for work so my mother attended the appointment with me. Immediately it brought tears to my eyes to see that adorable profile for the first time! Unfortunately that happy thought and incredible feeling lasted no longer than the 1/2 hour I spent looking at him on the screen when the doctor came in to tell me that there was something wrong with our baby. My mind automatically started to wander, I thought of all the different scenarios in my head of the next few sentences that were going to come out of her mouth,Gastroschisis was not one of them. As she politely and as easily possible showed me the mass of "something" above my baby's stomach I just sat in silence. I didn't know how to react.
Hearing of this gastroschisis and that our baby had it made me want nothing more then to wake up from that nightmare but it was real. There was something wrong with our baby and it was something that we had absolutely no control over. We didn't cause it and we wouldn't have been able to stop it from occuring. For those of you who aren't sure what gastroschisis is : it is a birth defect in the abdominal wall of the baby that just didn't seem to close up all the way, leaving the intestines to come out into the amniotic fluid. It occurs in 1 in 2,229 birth. It is just a freak thing that happens. Thankfully there is an incredible support group out there called "Avery's angels" dedicated to help find a cure and to help families in need. Without them the last few months it would have seemed impossible for matthew and I to deal with our future.
Once baby p is born he is going to have to undergo one or more surgeries. We are now scheduled for a c-section on May 1st at 8:00am for our handsome little bundle of joy to enter this world and we are beyond excited. as soon as he is stable they will perform surgery on him to try to put his intestines back into his belly. This can happen anywhere between 3 to 24 hours after the baby is born. We have no idea when we are going to be able to hold him, we do know that it won't be until after his closure surgery and that can take some time. We also have no clue what our future holds for us. We have no idea what the NICU hospital bills will be. Baby p is expected to spend anywhere from 4 weeks to 12 weeks ( or more) in the hospital. We are ready to start this journey to bring baby p home, we appreciate all of our friends and family and all of the support that we have behind us. Without you, we wouldn't have made it this far.
Hearing of this gastroschisis and that our baby had it made me want nothing more then to wake up from that nightmare but it was real. There was something wrong with our baby and it was something that we had absolutely no control over. We didn't cause it and we wouldn't have been able to stop it from occuring. For those of you who aren't sure what gastroschisis is : it is a birth defect in the abdominal wall of the baby that just didn't seem to close up all the way, leaving the intestines to come out into the amniotic fluid. It occurs in 1 in 2,229 birth. It is just a freak thing that happens. Thankfully there is an incredible support group out there called "Avery's angels" dedicated to help find a cure and to help families in need. Without them the last few months it would have seemed impossible for matthew and I to deal with our future.
Once baby p is born he is going to have to undergo one or more surgeries. We are now scheduled for a c-section on May 1st at 8:00am for our handsome little bundle of joy to enter this world and we are beyond excited. as soon as he is stable they will perform surgery on him to try to put his intestines back into his belly. This can happen anywhere between 3 to 24 hours after the baby is born. We have no idea when we are going to be able to hold him, we do know that it won't be until after his closure surgery and that can take some time. We also have no clue what our future holds for us. We have no idea what the NICU hospital bills will be. Baby p is expected to spend anywhere from 4 weeks to 12 weeks ( or more) in the hospital. We are ready to start this journey to bring baby p home, we appreciate all of our friends and family and all of the support that we have behind us. Without you, we wouldn't have made it this far.
Organizer
Andrea Pagan
Organizer
