The Results

On Friday the 21st we went in to have another U/S done of our precious little girl. I was on constant prayer all morning. On the drive there, in the waiting room, walking down the hall, laying on the u/s bed. It was the longest morning of my life. We finally got started and had to do a full scan of the baby. As you know, the head was the last thing she scanned. As I am laying there waiting patiently the tech says " I see it". To us we think she means the Vermis which is what Dr. Salley thought was missing. As Travis and I get excited, she informs us that she sees the malformality, the missing spot. My heart sank and in an instant everything just fell apart. My heart was breaking and I just didn't understand what was going on. After we found out, I had to lay there for another, I dont know, what seemed like forever for her to get the rest of the info she needed. When she was done, she left for the Dr. I cried so hard. I tried so hard to keep myself together. We waited for eternity for the Dr to come in and explain to us what was going on. Thank goodness I got a good feeling about him from the first few minutes. He was very good at explaining things. To make a long story short, Baby Girl Jackson was diagnosed with partial Dandy Walker Syndrome. This is a rare genetic disorder that occurs in about 1 in 3000 births ( I have also heard it is even rarer than this, but this is the number I am going by). There are so many things that make up DWS. We are VERY FORTUNATE that she only has one part of it so far. She is missing about 1/4 and inch of her Vermis. This is a worm like or fiber like piece between the hemispheres of the cerebellum. ( I am not very good with these terms yet so bare with me). The vermis controls movement like balance and coordination. This would affect things like walking and throwing a ball from one hand to another. Because we are missing only a 1/4 of an inch and some fibers are there, we won't know how severe the disability will be and because there are no other signs of DWS. Her brain had formed perfect and round, not strawberry or lemon shape. She has movement in her arms and legs and no club hands ot feet. These are all good signs. I know this isn't a very detailed description of everything, but we are still learning things. Most things we will not know until she is born and goes through numerous testing.

So here is where we are at. We will continue to see my normal OBGYN and they will keep a close eye on the baby's development. If things progress normally I will be able to deliver at Baptist. If some complications come up, I will have to switch over to USC and deliver at Richland so there will be specialist on hand for when she is born. I should have a normal pregnancy and go to term.

I know that God is still weaving this special little girl. He will make her in his eyes and I will love her so much. I already do!!!! There is a plan for everything and I can't wait to see the plan He has for her. I am truly blessed to be able to carry this child and I can't explain how excited I am to hold her and grow with her and for Ty to get her in trouble and teach her all his bad habits.

Right now we are praying things stay looking as good as they do. We are also praying for strength to get through the hurdles we still have to jump and for the knowledge we still need to learn about our little girl. To be honest, I really can't think about anything else but holding her in my arms. Thanks so much for all your prayers and kind words. What a blessing we have on the way and I can wait for everyone to meet her somewhere around June 6th!