MFM Appointment

Hello Everyone,

A lot of people have been asking for updates on the baby. It's so hard to call everyone and keep everyone updated when we find out some news so we just thought we'd post everything on here so everyone can stay updated.

We went to Maternal and Fetal Medicine at Spectrum Hospital in Grand Rapids yesterday. They have a pretty high-tech ultrasound machine there so they were able to get a better look at what's going on. We didn't find much out that we didn't already know or assume, but we know a couple things for sure now. The baby has spina bifida. Basically when the spine was forming at the very beginning weeks of the pregnancy it didn't close like it should have. They really don't know why this occurs but there isn't anything we could have done to prevent it from happening. We found out the opening starts out at the L3 vertabrae and continues down from there. That level is the most common seen in spina bifida patients. He will have to have surgery within 24 hours of birth to close up the hole in his back.

Most kids with spina bifida also have fluid on the brain so that's another thing that they will be monitoring. Right now the fluid on his brain is on the high end of the normal scale, so it's nothing to worry about but they will be keeping an eye on it. After he's born, he will most likely have to have a shunt put in, but that's pretty common in these kids.

Other than those things, he looks very good! His legs and feet look normal (sometimes these kids will have club feet). All his organs look good too, so that's a good sign!

All these things are very hard for us to hear. But we're getting through it, thanks a lot to all the prayers we've been receiving. This is just another challenge in life. Unexpected, yes, but life is always unpredictable. We know that God made this little guy in His perfect way. We're going to love him and try to raise him right. Our ultimate goal hasn't changed, we just may get there a little different way than we had planned. We have good days and bad days... good hours and bad hours. It is especially hard when Coleman is out of town for work and we're apart. They have been very understanding with him missing work for appointments so we're very thankful for that.

Specific things we would like prayed for:

-The fluid on his brain stays in the normal range and doesn't get dangerous before he's born and they can put in a shunt.

-That the spina bifida would not affect him as much as it has the potential to.

-Our state of mind and emotions in dealing with this.

Thanks everyone for the prayers and we'll keep you updated with anything we find out!

Lauren and Coleman

Here are some of the pictures of our little guy thanks to the really cool ultrasound machine. We think he's pretty cute... :) Coleman's first response to that was, "Well duh!" Enjoy!