U of I Appointment

Last night we headed to Stu and Becky's in West Liberty so we wouldn't have as far to drive this morning to the appointment. Plus, we got to hang out with them and have some awesome Indian food and ice cream with home-made fudge sauce!

This morning we headed back to the University Hospital for our follow up to our Dubuque ultrasound. We felt an amazing sense of peace and were very calm through out the whole appointment; your prayers were very evident to us.

The ultrasound did confirm what the doctors in Dubuque saw - the baby's ventricles in the brain are still measuring quite large. After the ultrasound we consulted with 3 doctors (one of which was the same doctor we saw last time). There was also the ultrasound tech and an intern in the room, so it was quite the little party.

The doctors were able to give us a diagnosis - a condition called ventriculomegaly, which basically describes excess fluid running through the brain. They did a detailed scan on the rest of the baby, paying special attention to all other areas of the brain, and concluded that everything else looked normal. This is a good sign that this is the only condition that the baby has. They did say that there is about a 1% chance that this condition is a result of a genetic disorder or some type of infection. There is no way to tell without an amniocentisis, which we declined again. So, they gave us a 99% chance that this is the only condition that the baby has, which is positive.

So, basically here is where we stand now...

1. We will have to come back to Iowa City in 5 weeks for a follow up ultrasound. They want to continue to monitor the amount of fluid in the brain to see if it is maintaining the same measurements, increasing, or (hopefully) decreasing.

2. We will also meet with hi-risk obstetricians (this is our category now) and neo-natal specialists at this time.

3. We will have to have the baby in Iowa City instead of Dubuque. Baby will have to have scans after birth to check on the condition, and if it is severe enough it may require intervention by the doctors down there (basically this would involve surgery to drain fluid off the brain). Plans for a normal delivery are still in place, unless the condition worsens a lot. If this is the case, Beth may have to be induced a few weeks early. A c-section is not in the plans as of now.

We felt very reassured that we were able to get a diagnosis and that the doctors were calm and optimistic about the outcome. It is helpful for us to know that this is something that they have encountered often.

We would love your continued prayer support, and we are still hopeful for a reduction in the ventricle size in 5 weeks. We have really appreciated your prayers thus far and have felt a calm and peace that is not from ourselves! We will keep you updated!