Baby Montes

As Colin & Carissa prepare to welcome their little one early next year, they recently received sad news…

During a routine ultrasound, it was discovered their Baby is suffering from congenital hernia on the diaphragm. Her stomach and intestines have passed through a hole in her diaphragm and are in her left side of chest, however the liver is not which is good news. These organs have pushed her heart over and are blocking her lungs from developing. They used her lung development (observed vs. expected at 23 weeks) and puts her at 31.5%.

This puts Baby in a moderate to severe category and qualifies them to be considered for fetal treatment.

The specialist they are seeing is recommending they get further testing in Houston which is considered one of the best for fetal surgery (very few hospitals do fetal surgery in the US). This includes a fetal MRI, echo and genetic testing to determine the eligibility and success rate for fetoscopic surgery inside the womb. He believes they are good candidates. If they do qualify after testing, it will be an extended stay for mom after surgery in Houston.

If they are disqualified after further testing because the success rate wouldn’t outweigh the risks, they would need to look at neonatal surgery at Emory Hospital. Assuming they are successful at stabilizing baby’s breathing after birth, they will do surgery as soon as possible.

Needless to say this will bring some unexpected expenses. Please consider donating whatever you can to help alleviate some of the added stress for mom and dad.