one month ago, my husband and i received a call from my ob-gyn. something was wrong with our baby, and they wanted me to go in right away for another ultrasound and more tests. the ultrasound revealed that he had gastroschisis, a birth defect that affects 1 in 10,000 babies. this defect allows the intestines, and sometimes other organs, to protrude outside the abdominal cavity. the exposed intestines are usually placed back into the abdominal cavity through the use of a silo, and the abdomen is then closed surgically.
to say a million thoughts were running through my mind would be an understatement. how did this happen? is it because of something i did? will he live a normal life?
we met with a specialist, and he told us everything about gastroschisis. luckily my husband paid close attention, because i couldn't comprehend a word he was saying. all i heard was that something was wrong with our baby.
last week we met with the specialist again, and this was a MUCH better appointment. i had been worrying about EVERYTHING. even though our little guy is a gastro baby, he is growing normally, all of his other organs are perfect, and everything else looks great! we had our first 4d ultrasound and got to see his beautiful face, and he was chatting away! i had imagined that at 23 weeks he would still look pretty alien/skeleton-ish, and i was so amazed at how formed all of his features were. he weights 1.2lbs and he has his mama's nose :)
since everything looked so wonderful, they said not to come back for another month, yay!
as of today, i am very positive and very hopeful. i am trying to learn as much as possible about gastroschisis, and spread awareness as well. if you have a loved one with gastroschisis, check out avery's angels. they are a non-profit organization that offers support to families and children born with gastroschisis. https://www.facebook.com/averysangels
i also started a shop on etsy where you can purchase some of my handmade jewelry. so far, all of my jewelry is green ribbon-related, and i'll be adding more soon :) for each purchase, i will donate $5 to avery's angels. http://www.etsy.com/shop/abigailalisa
if you are a gastro parent, i'd love to hear your story!
have a happy day!
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