Friday, January 29, 2010

Devastating News about Baby Braham

I was waiting until I was 12 weeks to announce my pregnancy, but at 11 weeks and 4 days I got the worst news possible. There was a problem with my baby. It had an enlarged bladder (10.7 mm and it should be less than 6 mm) and an enlarged ureter (connects the bladder and kidney). We went to a specialist for the 1st trimester screening, which we actually did not need to do as we did PGD (Array CGH) genetic testing on the embryos during IVF. They tested all 23 chromosomes and found out that 5 out of the 8 were genetically normal. We were very happy with these results as it was higher than the 40% average. The clinic ranked the 5 embryos (soon to be blastocysts) and we put the first two on the list, which happened to be a girl and a boy. At the 6 week ultrasound we found out we were expecting one baby. We were so thrilled! We also had an ultrasound at 7 and 8 weeks and everything looked great. We were then released to my normal OB. (You can read all about my pregnancy journey on my blog...www.brahambaby.blogspot.com.) After the specialist told us about this devastating news he told us he wanted us to get a second opinion with another specialist right away. We headed over there and the other specialist confirmed the bad news and told us to come back in two weeks to see if it gets better, but to prepare for the worst. The doctor was pretty grim and did not give us a lot of hope. We were devastated!! In the last 3 years we have been through so much... a vasectomy reversal, 5 IUIs (artificial inseminations) - two with clomid, three rounds of fresh cycle IVFs (egg retrieval and transfer), one frozen transfer for IVF, three miscarriages (counting this one), one D&C, and one D&E (counting this one), and many many countless timed cycles. Everything up until this point with this pregnancy has been right on track and we were even able to see and hear the heartbeat early. We were almost in the second trimester and then BOOM it was all gone in an instant. Craig and I went home after getting the terrible news and I started doing research online. I found out a lot about this problem through forums and case studies. I spent days gathering information trying to prepare myself for all the outcomes. I was hoping the problem would fix itself as it does in some cases, but tried to prepare myself for the worst outcome. The next two weeks were impossible! I tried to have hope for this tiny little baby inside me. There were days when I felt like everything was going to be okay, especially with all the family and friends praying and then other days when I felt like it was not going to end the way I wanted. My gut told me that it was not going to be good and normally my gut is right. Two weeks later we went back in for the follow up appt and while we were waiting I envisioned the doctor coming in and telling us everything was okay and it fixed itself, but that was wishful thinking and the opposite happened. The bladder almost tripled in size. It went from 10.7 mm to 27.9 mm. It was so big it was putting pressure on all the organs. The amniotic fluid was lower because the baby's system is not performing properly. They also found a cyst on the umbilical cord. The bladder is so big it makes up almost half of the body. We asked the specialist how this happened and he said this is sometimes the result of a chromosome issue, but since we already did genetic testing and everything was normal that this is a total fluke. The doctors all told me this baby is not going to make it. What gives me peace is this baby will be greeted in Heaven by my other two angel babies, my cousin Tim and Mindy's twin angel babies, my Aunt Ellen, Grandpa & Grandma Beurskens, and Granddad Jones. I know this baby will be taken care by all of them. Please say a prayer for us.

5 comments:

Rudd Family said...

Maria,

I am so sorry about your loss. You are in my thoughts and prayers. I love you so much!

hey look at what i did said...

Thinking of you. I am so very sorry for your loss.
Love Rosie

Suze said...

Maria - you are an awesome sister, sister-in-law, stepmom, aunt, daughter, cousin and friend...how about just an incredible woman, with so much love to give! God has a plan for someone as special as you - and I truly believe you will be blessed one day with a child. Tommy is so lucky to have you as his aunt and godmother. We love you so much and share this loss with you, Craig, Julia and Ethan.

Unknown said...

We love you and are praying for you guys.

The Hildebrand-Slightom-James Family said...

Maria I am terribly sorry to hear this. I will absolutely keep you in my thoughts and prayers.
Good things come to good people. You my friend are one of the greatest people I know.
Much love to you and yours.
Try and stay positive.