Baby Update 7/22 - Cincinnati Trip

After a very long 10 hour day at the hospital, we ended up with a lot of information… so much information my brain is pretty worn out. The long and short of it is that this pregnancy just isn’t bound to be “normal.” We’re pretty used to that by now, but we learned a lot more today. The first test was an hour long MRI, which showed a lot of information about the cyst. The second was a detailed ultrasound (another almost hour!) and the third was a fetal echocardiogram (that was over an hour!). The echocardiogram was the best news of the day; his heart is in really good shape and isn’t showing signs of failure. The cyst isn’t as vascular (having blood flow) as they thought, which is also good. The other piece of good news is that the MRI showed that his swallowing/airway haven’t been compromised at all by the cyst. The cyst, unfortunately, has wrapped most of the way across the front of his neck, which can cause potential problems, but nothing yet. I’ve been put on bed rest until he comes. The doctors don’t want me going into labor at all, so we will likely be relocating to Cincinnati on August 3rd. They don’t want my water to break because I have major blood vessels running through that area that would rupture as well (this was new news). I also have two placentas, one that was “carrying the motherload” as he put it, and another that had taken a backseat. Why? Who knows? Did we have a clue about this? Nope. The doctor hopes that Micah lasts 34-35 weeks. 36 weeks is pretty well out of the question because most babies with this condition come at 34-35 weeks.
The delivery will be an EXIT procedure (deliver the head and arms, and establish an airway) and will be done at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Unfortunately, because of those blood vessels that are in the lower uterus, they’re not sure where the incision will be- it might be at the top of my uterus, which is pretty strange. The whole thing is pretty strange, don’t you think? Once they establish an airway, they’ll let Micah stabilize a few days before removing the cyst. There are some potential problems that he’ll have with eating, so he will be tube fed for at least a little while. Once they remove the cyst, they say the average time in the hospital is 7-10 days. But since Micah will be a preemie, he will be in the hospital for at least a couple of weeks. They hope that he could potentially be moved to Fort Wayne toward the end of the time, but there are probably dozens of factors that play into this.
All in all, the doctors hope to be in complete control of his entrance to the world, and that’s why we’re going to Cincinnati so early. The doctors were fantastic at the Fetal Care Center and are very, very smart but also quite personable. The main doctor said that all in all, when the delivery is controlled, that babies with this condition (the cystic hygroma) have good outcomes. Since I’ll be on bed rest the updates won’t come as frequently as they have, but I’ll make sure to keep you informed. I’m going to my doctor in Fort Wayne early next week, and he’ll keep an eye on me for the week. After that, it’s off to Cincinnati. (How’s that for 10 hours of appointments in less than 600 words?)