Time Line Part 1

September 30 (11 weeks 6 days):  First ultrasound.  We were super excited to see the Wee Smith dancing away. It’s when it really dawned on us that we were truly pregnant. Thank goodness the morning sickness was not for nothing. We waited until after Canadian Thanksgiving to start letting our family know the good news.

October 20 (14 weeks 5 days): The phone call that changed it all. We started with a Midwife. She had called and left a message asking D to call her back. I was wondering why she didn’t just call me at work. She called back later in the evening. Luckily I was in our home office with M. That’s when she told us about the abdominal wall defect.  At the time your mind spins and you don’t process anything. We didn’t even know what those words meant. The next day was all about researching what those words meant. I found the most amazing you tube video from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. When I tell people about our Omphalocele I always point them to the video. It explains it well and in a manner that is delicate and leaves you with hope. M and I both have degrees in Science but reading too many peered reviewed articles can send you more into despair then anything else. Science is not about sugar coating difficult topics.

October 26 (15 weeks 4 days): The game plan decided with the Midwife was to go for another ultrasound to determine if what the problem had corrected it self or if it was still there. The High Risk doctor would be on call for consultation. I must admit my heart dropped when I saw the Doctor enter the room after the technician had done an initial scan. After all its only the doctors that have the authority tell you the bad news. The Doctor confirmed that we had an Omphalocele and that my care would have to be transferred to the High Risk Unit at the Ottawa General Hospital. Bye Bye  Midwife...hello Maternal Fetal Medicine Unit.

October 29 (16 weeks): M and I met with the genetic counselor at CHEO. I remember her asking us if we knew why we where there. I now know everyone you meet asks you the same thing to make sure you are all on the same page. But at the time my response was I need to have an amniocentesis and we can’t have one till we see you first. We needed to rule out other genetic anomalies often associated with Omphaloceles.  She gave us the low down and we left with an amnio appointment and a level 2 ultrasound appointment.

First Post: Hello

The Hubby (M) and I (D) had always talked about creating a blog documenting our first pregnancy. At the time it was to preserve our thoughts, special moments etc.  to pass on to our kid at a later date. Electronic baby book, no scrap book skills needed.  It was also going to be our way to keep Friends and Family in the loop as to what was going on. Having friends all over Ontario and other parts of Canada we thought it would be easier and lets face it FB has its limits.
Oh how those were the simple days. For what ever reason I always procrastinated starting said blog. And then we got the news no expecting parents let alone first time expecting parents want to hear “ultrasound showed that the baby has an abdominal wall defect”.  For a while now our life has been about appointments, tests, results, worry and stress. But we are coming out of that phase. So what better time to start the blog.
M and I live in the Ottawa area. I noticed a lot of the other blogs out there for Omphaloceles are from our American neighbours so we thought it would be nice to put a Canuck perspective on it, free medical care and all (thank goodness). This blog is still more for our Friends and Family to keep them posted on what’s going on with us but if anyone else is going through this I think it’s always a comfort to know you are not alone. At least it was for M and I. I will still put up some of our older stuff as we kept track of it in a book (so old school). I the only link I will share with you is the one from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. It's the easiest visual way for you to understand what we are going through.
Thanks for reading.  D & M Smith