Silly Ty

Boxes are so much fun.  I miss his curls! 

Neurologist Appointment

Oh how God is teaching me.  He has given me 3 more months to learn about faith and patience.

I have written and re-written this post and I just cant get down what I want to say.  To sum up the appointment, it goes like this.  As of right now, there is nothing I can do but wait till she is born.  The doctors will continue to keep a close eye for hydrocephalus (water on the brain) and making sure nothing else comes up in the mean time.  As for the neurologist, his main concern is for when she is born and what the brain looks like then.  They will do an U/S on the brain to determine if there is any water.  If there is not, I will be able to take her home with me.  If they do find that there is water, she will have to go in for surgery and have a shunt put in.   I know I have mentioned a fetal MRI to many of you, but after speaking with the neurologist, I believe we are going to skip that.  It wont be as definitive as he would like and she would still have to have one.  He said that I can wait a few weeks to have the MRI done for our baby girl.  The MRI will confirm the Dandy Walker variation diagnosis.

So, we continue to wait and pray.  Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts.  They really do make a difference.
Oh yeah...I hope to have a name nailed down soon so keep checking.

Follow up U/S

Well, I went in for my follow up U/S and everything still looks great.  No water on the brain, no enlarged ventricles and no new symptoms.  Praise God.  However, I did find out I have gained 6LBS in 2 weeks.  WHAT!!!!!  Anyway, everything looked great on U/S and we will continue to monitor.  My blood pressure was a little high, but we are attributing that to my anxiety and nerves.  We meet with the Neurologist this Friday.  This appt scares me but I know I can get through it.  Thanks for all of your prayers.

Picnic at Lake Murray

It was a nice day out so Ty and I packed up and headed to Lake Murray for a picnic lunch.

After digging in the sand, we decided to take a break and check out the water.

We had to look at it over and over again.  It was very interesting.

That finally wore me out.  A little napping in the sun.  

And now, we eat.   

24 Week Appointment

Went in for my 24 week appointment and had a chance to go over things with the DR.  We have set a plan of action and I will go in on March 1st for an ultrasound.  We will be making sure there is no water on the brain and  no cyst has formed. We will also look to see how the vermis has matured since the last U/S.  The baby's heartbeat was 132 which is good.  I also got the ball rolling on getting a neurologist/neurosurgeon.  They sent referral papers over so as soon as things get squared away with them, I will meet with that Dr. and get his opinion on the situation and what he thinks will be the best course for when she is born.  I am also requesting a fetal MRI.  I am terribly afraid of having her put to sleep so soon after being born to have an MRI done to asses her situation.  I figure I would rather endure the 90 minute process and have the MRI done while she is still in my belly and the risk involved with anesthesia is eliminated and they are still able to get all the info they need.  Thanks so much for all of your prayers and thoughts.  They have meant so much to Travis and I.  As soon as I know more, I will pass it on.  

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!

So was Ty right?

After having our Ultrasound appointment cancelled last week due to snow, we got rescheduled for today. After waiting an extra week I am super excited about finding out what we are having.

Ty has been sure of what he was getting. Anytime you asked him if he was having a baby brother or a baby sister he would always tell you......BABY SISTER! Yep, he was right. We are having a girl. I still can not believe it. I would have bet money on it being a boy. I even asked Marina to check one more time to make sure and she was right. Yep, its a girl again.

Here is her precious profile. It was so funny while getting the u/s because she was moving so much but I wasn't feeling a thing! It took her almost an hour to get all the info she needed.

You would think I would feel that knee poking me but I don't.

She looks like she is karate chopping me with those arms.


Towards the end of the scans, Marina was a little concerned about a spot in the back of the brain. She called Dr. Salley in to take a look. He was concerned about it was well so he referred us to USC Specialty Clinic by Richland. I can't describe to you the feeling of not knowing if something was wrong with our little girl. We had to wait 2 days to get an appointment confirmation and it wasn't going to be until NEXT TUESDAY! I could not wait that long. I called USC myself and told the wonderful person who answered the phone that if any appointments become available before then to put me down and I would take it. About 2 hours later I got a call saying I could go in Friday morning at 7:30am. So now we wait for this scan.