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My daughter was born! :bannana:
Katherine Elizabeth (Elise) was born April 26, 2003. She was 6 pounds and 2 oz and 19.25 inches long. Her birth was somewhat traumatic as she was stuck in the birth canal and her heart rate dropped very low and would not rise after my wife's contractions. When she was finally extracted with forceps, she would not start breathing. The doctors had to resuscitate her and she had to stay in the nursery under an oxygen tent for a day and a half. On a positive note, she has no lasting effects from her hypoxia at birth (i.e. cerebral palsy, etc.). However, she was also born with a mild form of spina bifida and a tethered spinal cord. We were unaware of her birth defects until her birth because they did not show up on the ultrasound. The neurosurgeon that took her case said that she would have to have surgery between 6 and 9 months of age.
On Jan. 9, 2004, Elise had the surgery to release her tethered spinal cord and repair her spina bifida. The spina bifida although mild still needed surgical repair. The SB was in the form of a skin tag that was in actuality a dermal tract leading and connecting to her spinal cord. The surgery went very well. The surgeon was able to release her spinal cord and repair the SB successfully. Elise spent one night in the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) Then she stayed on the regular floor of the hospital for a few more days. Thankfully, my wife and I were able to stay at the children's hospital with Elise. She is recovering very well from her surgery experience and is now finally getting back to her normal routine and activity level. The surgeon believes that Elise has a very good chance of being a typical little girl and having a normal life. The chance of her spinal cord re-tethering is only slightly more than 1%!
We are so thankful to have Elise home again. We feel so blessed to have found such a wonderful doctor and fantastic hospital to care for our baby girl. It is experiences like this that renew my faith in humanity. This ended up being a long post but I felt I had to share our experience.
Regards,
Don
Katherine Elizabeth (Elise) was born April 26, 2003. She was 6 pounds and 2 oz and 19.25 inches long. Her birth was somewhat traumatic as she was stuck in the birth canal and her heart rate dropped very low and would not rise after my wife's contractions. When she was finally extracted with forceps, she would not start breathing. The doctors had to resuscitate her and she had to stay in the nursery under an oxygen tent for a day and a half. On a positive note, she has no lasting effects from her hypoxia at birth (i.e. cerebral palsy, etc.). However, she was also born with a mild form of spina bifida and a tethered spinal cord. We were unaware of her birth defects until her birth because they did not show up on the ultrasound. The neurosurgeon that took her case said that she would have to have surgery between 6 and 9 months of age.
On Jan. 9, 2004, Elise had the surgery to release her tethered spinal cord and repair her spina bifida. The spina bifida although mild still needed surgical repair. The SB was in the form of a skin tag that was in actuality a dermal tract leading and connecting to her spinal cord. The surgery went very well. The surgeon was able to release her spinal cord and repair the SB successfully. Elise spent one night in the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) Then she stayed on the regular floor of the hospital for a few more days. Thankfully, my wife and I were able to stay at the children's hospital with Elise. She is recovering very well from her surgery experience and is now finally getting back to her normal routine and activity level. The surgeon believes that Elise has a very good chance of being a typical little girl and having a normal life. The chance of her spinal cord re-tethering is only slightly more than 1%!
We are so thankful to have Elise home again. We feel so blessed to have found such a wonderful doctor and fantastic hospital to care for our baby girl. It is experiences like this that renew my faith in humanity. This ended up being a long post but I felt I had to share our experience.
Regards,
Don
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