Yesterday we had another growth and anatomy scan at Maternal Fetal Medicine. Our little girl is already 2 pounds 1 once! Her heart is looking good at this point, which leads us to believe that at her echocardiogram in a couple of weeks any heart abnormality that may be found will be a rather minor one.
We did, however, learn that her kidneys are enlarged. The doctor asked if Dave had any kidney cysts. He does. The doctor said that while it is too early to see for certain, he is thinking there may be cysts in our daughter's kidneys. This is a serious complication, but we do not know yet how serious this may be. The doctor asked where we were planning to deliver. We told him Holland and while he did not come right out and tell us "no," he did mention the following:
1. We needed to find a pediatrician right away-- and one that will be able to care for both her kidneys and VHL.
2. Only after talking with the pediatrician and learning what kind of care our daughter will need immediately after birth, whether inpatient or outpatient, will my doctor be able to say whether a delivery in Holland would be okay or if we need to be at Spectrum.
3. Futher scans and monitoring are needed.
I will be a patient at Maternal Fetal Medicine for the duration of this pregnancy and most likely for any future pregnancy. At the echocardiogram they will do another scan of her kidneys. After this we will be returning every couple of weeks for further kidney scans. Hopefully these scans will reveal with greater clarity what exactly is happening with our daughter's organs. And, finally, and maybe the currently most distressing news for me is that our daughter will need immediate postnatal care. We only hope that her kidney problem will be minor enough so that she can be an outpatient and we can enjoy life as a family of three (humans, that is!) without the stress of having our infant in neonatal.
And so, your continued prayers, support, kind words, and warm thoughts are greatly appreciated and very much needed. Thank you. We have hope that the coming weeks will reveal a situation not nearly as serious as what the doctors may be currently expecting. We have hope that our baby girl will be born healthy and will come home at the same time with mom.
We can't wait to meet her and to have all of you meet her as well.
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11 hours ago
5 comments:
We want you to know that you do indeed have our deepest and constant prayers, our unwavering support, and thoughts so verywarm, the current heat wave is nothing!
Group hug from all of us
overflowing with hope and blessings!
Aunt Suanne
Oh, Valerie, how rough life can be. I'm sorry to hear about the cysts... too early I think... too early. May you and the baby (and Dave) be showered in prayer!
And so indeed, our continued prayers, support, kind words, and warm thoughts will be for sure right out of the heart of your Dutch family overseas for all three of you.
I wish I could stand beside you, hold your hand and give you a big hug. We wish you all strenght with all these things which are happening, because reading about the cysts now is sad again. Sometimes it is hard for me to express the things I feel in Dutch to write down in English, but know that we praying and hoping for the best for your little girl and for you both. This little one is already one of our family also and we are loving her very much.
Lots of love,
Ria, Willem, Johan and the rest of your Dutch family.
This is such a beautiful blog-- the pictures of your daughter are incredibly precious! We will definitely be thinking about you and praying for your family and the little life inside of you! Keep us updated!
Love,
Sigrid (Dave's cousin) and Isaac Chapman
You, Dave and your baby girl are in my prayers. Take care of you and keep your chin up!
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