24 hours ago we were having a completely normal pregnancy. Oh my, how one visit to the doctor can change things entirely.
A little background about our family is that my wife and I have a 2 and half year old daughter named Madison Elizabeth. Since her birth in March of 2008, we have been trying to have another child. Over the past 20 months we have concieved a total of four times with three of the pregancies ending in miscarriage. We are currently pregnant with a little girl and are 22 weeks along.
That brings us to a routine sonogram that was supposed to verify the gender of our baby yesterday. We found out that the umbilical cord of the baby wasn't inserted to the placenta correctly and there are complications that can arise during labor or it can cause growth restriction due to lack of essential nutrients being transfered from mother to baby. The technical term is velamentous cord insertion or VCI. Upon doing some research I have learned that this can be a fatal complication if undiagnosed. There is an additional factor that can be in conjunction with VCI's and it is called vasa previa. At this point in our pregnancy, we aren't sure if we have vasa previa, but we know for sure we do have a VCI. Vasa previa is where not only the umbilical cord is not inserted correctly, but exposed vessels that contain blood is lying near or across the cervix. If this isn't recognized on an ultrasound or sonogram, when the mother goes into labor and the cervix opens it can rupture those vessels and the baby will bleed out in a matter of seconds.
Due to the increased risk in this pregnancy we will having imaging done at every subsequent office visit to monitor the progress of the baby and to look at how the VCI is progressing. We will also have other tests done and will report more than a normal pregnant woman would. There is even a possibility that Brooklyn will need to be delivered early via c-section. Please be praying for our family. We will be going back for our next office visit Monday, January 10th.
I will be praying for all of your guys and for Brooklyn. I hope you get some good news and more information to comfort you at the next doctor visit. Love you
ReplyDeleteBaby Brooklyn and Your Family is in my thoughts and prayers. I couldn't even imagine going through something like this, but Our Heavenly Father works miracles and with him on our side anything is possible. You guys just keep your head up! I WILL CONTINUE PRAYING UNTIL THIS LITTLE MIRACLE IS BORN!
ReplyDeleteJaime & Amanda,
ReplyDeleteMy prayers and good wishes are always with you. I am so grateful that this problem didn't go undetected. Considering the rarity of this condition being diagnosed, I am really impressed with your physician. I feel confident that your health care team has the God given talents to see you & Brooklyn through to a healthy delivery. I wish I knew why bad things happen to good people, but I honestly believe that hard times make us better people. My love is with you all.
Aunt Donna