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Today... was not what I expected.
I'm 19w3d pregnant today, and had my anatomy ultrasound scheduled. After that, I planned to spend the rest of the weekend recovering from a nasty bout with bronchitis last week while celebrating yet another healthy Wahlund baby. However, we received the news that our little Tiebreaker is not 100% healthy.
The baby was diagnosed with bilateral club feet.
The good news is that this condition is very treatable. 95% of babies born with club feet do not need surgery. From what I've been reading, and from what my OB said, the treatment will involve casting for the first several months, and afterwards a brace. If the casting and braces work as expected, s/he will be 100% cured in a few years. This is very, very good news.
It's also good news that I should still be able to have a vaginal birth. Baby shouldn't need to spend any extra time in the hospital, either, if there are no other complications.
But I'm still feeling scared, and sad, and shocked, and overwhelmed. I'm probably going to write a more detailed blog post this weekend about my thoughts/feelings/experiences so far, just to get my feelings written out.
I'd appreciate prayers for our strength and for the baby's health, specifically that s/he won't have any additional complications and won't need surgery.
Collin has been an absolute rock - he managed to take tomorrow off of work, even though I told him he didn't need to, just so he could be there for me this weekend as we process this news. I am so grateful for his love and support.
We didn't find out the baby's sex, although I'm kind of regretting that now. If the u/s tech had hinted that there was a problem, I would have asked to know. I'd prefer to choose the baby's name right away so we can ask for prayers for him/her specifically and by name, but I don't anticipate having another ultrasound this pregnancy (unless the specialist we see about the club feet orders one?), so I guess we'll just have to wait and keep calling him/her Tiebreaker. :)
Collin thinks Tiebreaker is a boy since my OB said that club feet is more common in males than females. But I still think the baby is a girl, so I guess we'll have to see.
Here are a few of the pictures we received:
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| Profile pic |
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| His/her sweet little face in 3D (s/he was moving around a LOT, so it was difficult to get a clear picture!). |
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| A picture that clearly shows one of his/her club feet. I didn't realize we had this pic until we got home, but looking at it now I can clearly see the problem. I didn't notice a thing during the ultrasound itself. |
Congratulations to Kara, who is my pregnancy buddy -- her baby BOY is due the same week as Tiebreaker! She's getting two sons this year! (And I won an awesome baby blanket for Tiebreaker in her recent FB auction for "Colton.")
For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!
Love you, sweet friend (and pregnancy buddy). I'm so sorry you have to deal with this, but I know it'll all be ok. Lots of prayers and hugs. Thank you for the congrats :)
ReplyDeleteHi. Monica at http://celebratingasimplelife.blogspot.com/ has written many a blog post about her little sweetheart who was born with bilateral club feet. Yes, I know you are worried because so much is unknown. And God will know exactly what baby everyone is praying for even if the baby doesn't have an official name yet. Tiebreaker is a cute name! And because you don't know the gender, you'll have a fun surprise at birth when you find out. May the Holy Spirit be with you as you and your husband process this news and seek out the appropriate medical treatment when your adorable baby is born. No matter what, your baby will be adorable.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad Lena mentioned Monica! She is an amazing mom, and her little girl was diagnosed in utero, too!
ReplyDeletePraying for you and for this precious little one who is blessed to be in excellent hands!
What you said there, Lena. God knows who we're praying for.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to keep it a surprise, give people who need it something to look forward to finding out, rather than just having overworried family members seeing the birth only as the start of hardship.
Besides, we never found out with the others, I don't want to change that tradition just because there's something wrong that we'll be able to treat with patience and love.
We kept Roslyn's sex a surprise to have a special little something at her birth. She was a homebirth as well- absolutely no reason why the birth should be any different just because of little crooked feet!
ReplyDeleteHey Joanna, I don't know if I officially had club feet (I need to ask my mom), but they were crooked or bent under or something like that. Anyway, I wore braces from 8 months to 16 months and never had any problem after that. No surgery, no nothing and I can't tell the difference now. And yeah, I am bit klutzy, but I don't know if that has anything to do with my feet, I think it is that I just don't pay enough attention to where I am walking! ;)
ReplyDeleteAll this to say...prayers for your little sweetie and hopefully it is something that can be taken care of with the casting / braces and not require surgery.
The ultrasound picture of your baby's feet looks adorable to me. :) (As does his/her profile). I know it's tough as a mother to get such unexpected news. Praying for your sense of peace and that your sweet baby just needs the typical treatment.
ReplyDeleteHow shocking! Prayers coming your way. Thank God for modern medicine and that this should be a fully treatable issue. I wonder if you called your health care provider and asked about the sex if they would be able to tell you. I'd imagine the scan would also check for genital anatomy.
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