OT: Baby Update After Visit to Specialist

To All:

Sorry about all the medical jargon in this email, but I can only pass on
what we have been told and what we have researched. It is hard to translate
all this to regular English and if some of you want to do your own research
the technical terms can aid in searching although at times they can also
hinder getting understandable articles.

Prior to today the best web information I have found is at:

http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic3246.htm

From that we knew that "Midtrimester (13-26 wk) PPROM has a dismal
prognosis". (PPROM is an acronym for pre-term premature rupture of
membranes.) Most women (93.75%) with this condition go into labor prior to
four ws, but a very few continue on for longer periods.  In this case we
are among the fortunate few who beat the odds.  However as you we see below
there are other even longer odds stacked up against us and our baby.

The sonogram result from today is that the baby is underdeveloped for its
gestational age and there is very little amniotic fluid.  No movement of the
baby was observed although from time to time Judith has felt movement.  The
heartbeat is still normal.

Both our ob-gyn and the specialist we saw today have never seen a case like
ours where the baby has survived.  We did not talk much about the birth
defect (omphaocele) or the operation for it except that she did mention that
the chances of other birth defects such as downs syndrome etc. is high. We
mostly talked about the fact that without the amniotic fluid the baby's
lungs will not develop properly. This would result in pulmonary hypoplasia
which means the baby would not be able to breath and probably would not
survive even if that was the only problem.  If the baby survives another two
ws (until after July 15) we could transfer the prenatal care to this
specialist.  The only treatment would be bed rest and to administer steroids
to hopefully aid or accelerate the development of the baby's lungs. Judith
would have to stay in the hospital all the time until the baby is delivered.
Nobody knows when this might be.  Potentially it could be up to 16 ws or
so.  Even with all of that the chances of the baby surviving are "one
percent or less". This just the risk from the pulmonary hypoplasia alone
without taking into consideration the operation required for the birth
defect. That defect alone is also life threatening i.e. without the
operation the baby will not survive.  That operation must be done under
general anesthesia and so of course the baby must be able to breathe in
order to survive that. There could possibly be some slight delay between the
birth of the baby and the operation to allow for more lung development, but
if that is possible it would have to be "very carefully managed".

I am sorry the news is not more encouraging.  Obviously most of our hopes
have not yet come to pass. We are grateful to God for the extra time that he
given us with out baby, time that others are not so lucky to have. (While
PPROM happens in only 3% of pregnancies that is still 150,000 pregnancies a
year. My heart goes out to all those people who have suffered as much or
even more than we have.) We always hope and pray for the result that we
desire but we end our prayers asking for God to help us in accepting His
will for both us and our baby.  In this life we usually do not see or
understand why we must suffer, but I believe this life is just part of a
deeper, more encompassing reality where somehow all of this has meaning and
makes sense.

Than you again for all of your prayers and support.



Charles Hottel