A problem with your baby...

On August 13th it was finally time to see the high-risk doctor.  We were certain they were going to tell us her cord was fine and send us on our way. 

It was a very different kind of appointment.  At our doctors office the ultrasound tech is very sweet.  She lets us see the screen and takes time to talk us through what she is looking at, she even points things out as she sees them.  At this office the tech said from the beginning that her job is to take pictures and that the Dr. will discuss the pictures with us after she is done. 

From where I was laying I could not see the screen, all I knew is that it was taking a really long time.  80 minutes (yes 80) went by. I asked if the cord was okay and see said she hadn't gotten to the cord yet.  I became nervous and I kept looking at my husband trying to see if he knew what was going on--I could tell he didn't.  We came for the cord and after 80 minutes she hasn't even done that yet?  It was scary and confusing.  Finally they used the transvaginal ultrasound to check the cord, which took about 3 minutes.

When it was over we waited nervously for the doctor to come into the room and tell us what was going on.  He sat down, looked over the pictures, and my heart sank.  I knew by the look on his face and the way he was rubbing his chin that something was really wrong. 

Finally after a few minutes he said "I do see a problem with your baby..." he paused for what felt like hours. My mind immediately went to the worst.  He said she had something called Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia.  I had no idea what that meant, but I could tell it wasn't good. He explained briefly what CDH was and that we would need to deliver at a hospital with a level 3 NICU and an ECMO.  We wanted to ask questions, but we didn't know enough about CDH to know what to ask.  He explained that there was nothing we did to cause it and there is nothing we could have done differently to prevent it...and then he left. 

In my mind I was thinking, how did this go undetected until 28 weeks.  How had our doctor and ultrasound tech missed this?  We had asked about the heart, the brain, even her lip, femur, and feet...but never in a million years did we ever think to ask "How's her diaphragm!"

We left the hospital feeling completely blindsided...but I still thanked God for answering my prayer.  After all, I asked him to allow the doctor to see what he needed to see...and he did.  I also thanked Makenna for being so smart.  If she hadn't of hidden her cord we wouldn't have needed a high-risk ultrasound and the CDH would have gone undiscovered until after she was born. 

 I still had one big question though....what the heck is CDH?!