Our Story

I have decided to start a blog about the new journey we will be embarking on so that all of our friends and family will have a place to go to get updates and see how we are doing and I will not have to constantly be sending e-mails and calling everyone. Well, here is the background information on what out new journey is. Last week I went in for my 20 week sonogram. We were excited to find out what we were having because my oldest daughter only wanted a little sister. Thankfully that is what God has given us. We have decided to name her Autumn Krystene. After the sonogram later that afternoon I came back to the doctor for my regular appointment. I was then told that the sonogram was abnormal and that Autumn may have a blocked ventricle in her brain because the brain development was abnormal. I was told I needed to go to a high risk pregnancy doctor to have another sonogram done and see what was wrong. So for the next 6 days we just had to wait until we could go see Dr. Blanco. I drove myself crazy trying to research on the internet what it could be and what procedure may need to be done. I was concerned about what affect it would have on her mental capablitlies and I just wanted to know exactly what was going on so we could deal with it and have some peace about it. Well, Wednesday finally came and we had our appointment with Dr. Blanco. The second ultrasound gave us our diagnosis that Autumn has a neural tubal birth defect called spina bifida. The defect occured during her first 30 days of life. Her spine formed beautifully until about L5 to S3 and then there is a hole in her spine. That means all of those nerves are exposed. We were told that she would have to have surgery within 24 hours of her birth to try to minimize the nerve damage she may have. The bad news is that no one in our area can do the surgery so we have to deliver in Dallas and live there until her surgery is over and she is well enough to come home. I am blessed that my brother and his family live in Mesquite and we will be staying with them during our LONG stay. Back to Autumn, we will not know what kind of damage she will have until she is born. It can be severe to where she is paralyzed or she could have no damage and be a normal little girl and everything in between. Her hole is in her lower back to tailbone so that means if there is any damage it will only affect where the hole begins down. This means she could have bladder and bowel problems. She could be paralyzed at the waist or just not have feelings in her toes. She could have club feet and may need surgery to correct that. Our biggest concern is that 90% of abbies with spina bifida develop hydrocephalus which is water on the brain. This is caused by pressure from the spine pulling on the brain and causing spinal fliud to leak into her brain. If she develops hydrocephalus either in the womb or after her surgery then they will have to put a shunt in her brain and there will be a tube that drains it to her belly. I will continue to see Dr. Blanco to monitor the fluid in her brain. Hydrocephalus could cause some brain damage so we are just praying that it does not happen or happens later in time so that the damage may be minimal. So, this is our game plan as of now. I will continue to see my regular OB, Dr. Martinez and also Dr. Blanco every 4 weeks for now. In about 6 weeks we will have our first doctor appointments in Dallas. I will be delivering at Baylor and then Autumn will be transferred to Dallas Children's Medical Center for her surgery and recovery. In 6 weeks we will be meeting with my doctor and talking about the plan for my delivery and also meeting with a neurological pediatrician to discuss exactly what to expect for Autumn and her care and all the thousands of questions we will have for him. We will have another appointment about 4 weeks after that to have an MRI done on Autumn for the doctors to have a closer look at exactly which parts are effected. At 36 weeks I will then have to be in Dallas to wait until I deliver and then stay for 6 weeks or longer waiting to see how Autumn recovers. The game plan may change once we visit with the doctors in July and we will keep everyone posted. We ask for everyone's prayers as we begin our new journey and learning about spina bifida and adjusting to all the changes in our family.