Now, I feel compelled to utilize my blog for a different reason. I want to help women. Specifically, I want to help new moms. Yeah, a lot has changed since my last post in December 2011. Maybe someday I will go back and write about some of the amazing experiences and goals archived during that time.I definitely want to write about my decision to become pregnant and some highlights of my pregnancy. For now, I'm going to start with my 33rd week of pregnancy.
Fortunately, I had a very easy pregnancy. I managed to avoid the dreaded morning sickness, craved donuts but still maintained my workout routine and experienced only the common aches and pains. All of that change dramatically during our 33rd week ultrasound. As I laid on the table all I could focus on was confirming if my baby was really a girl. We were told to expect a girl so naturally all of my gifts were pink. In fact, our second bedroom could double as a baby clothing store specializing in everything girlie. I was in trouble and needed to make a lot of returns and exchanges if my little nugget was in fact a boy. I was so excited to get the confirmation that pink, Barbies and princesses were in deed in my future that I failed to pick up on the insane amount of pictures begin taken by the technician. I did, however, notice a big black spot in my baby's abdomen. I inquired about the spot and the tech mentioned something about fluid showing up on the ultrasound as black and my doctor would discuss more. At the end of the ultrasound the tech announced that she needed to check with the front desk about next steps. Strange! The next step is for me to walk out of the doctor's office and go home to nap. When the tech appeared with a nurse I should have been alarmed. The nurse gave me appointment times to come back the next day to discuss the ultrasound results with my doctor. The next day? Don't these people know who I am? I am a career woman with meetings booked from 7:30am - 3:00pm the next day. I didn't understand why I needed to come back so soon. Couldn't we discuss the results next week during my routine appointment? Thankfully, my husband (the voice of reason) spoke up and said either time worked for him. Hesitantly, I accepted an appointment time and my brain went to work on how to re-arrange my work day. It wasn't until we got into the car that it hit me like a ton of bricks. Something was wrong with my baby!
The doctor informed us that the double bubble is a sign that the baby might have duodenal atresia. A birth defect that affects 1 in 5,000 or 1 in 10,000 (number varies between sources) babies. Simply put, the small bowel did not properly attach to the abdomen. It could be completely disconnected or blocked. Doctors wouldn't know the exact situation until after birth. The baby could remain in my womb until labor with no real issues but would need a non-urgent surgery after birth. The doctor set us up to see a perinatal specialist on Monday. The specialist would be able to confirm the suspected duodenal atresia and give us more information. All we needed to do was get through the weekend.
The weekend was torture! I wanted answers, guidance and direction. I spent hours googling double bubble and duodenal atresia. The majority of the time I came across articles, research, blogs and message boards associated with Down syndrome (DS). 20-30% of babies with duodenal atresia also have DS. I couldn't stop thinking about our diagnosis, our baby and any other conditions associated with her birth defect.
I shed many, many tears over that weekend. I was scared, concerned and disappointed. What did I do wrong? Was it that glass of wine I had to have after we conceived before I confirmed I was pregnant? Was it the coffee I refused to totally give up? No, I didn't do anything wrong. Duodenal atresia is a birth defect that just happens. Thankfully, my husband came across one article. A father wrote about his experience with duodenal atresia and the outcome was very positive. I read that article many times during the last few weeks of my pregnancy because it gave me hope. That is exactly what I hope this post will do for someone. There needs to be more information available to expecting parents who receive the diagnosis that is not associated with any other condition. I am by no means dismissing the significance and emotions associated with other conditions.
The perinatal specialist confirmed the double bubble during an extensive ultrasound. I asked him to look for some of the DS markers. My baby's femur was normal and she had four chambers in he heart. Her brain development looked great but he couldn't get a clear picture of her head to check her nose. My husband and I decided to do the genetic testing to rule out other disorders. During the week it took for the results to come in I continued to WebMD myself and read as much as I could about duodenal atresia and DS.
At my 34 week doctor appointment my doctor decided to put me on modified rest. Because of the duodenal atresia, baby girl couldn't process amniotic fluid. I was carrying twice the normal amount of fluid. As a result, my belly was huge and the extra pressure could trigger the uterus to start contractions. My doctor wanted me to get to 38 weeks so we didn't deliver premature on top of the condition. I had two days to finish up my projects at the office and fully transition to maternity leave. 2 days?! I was starting to get uncomfortable from the size of my belly, but I was hoping to work right up to delivery. Instead of suits and meetings my new job would require my husband's t-shirts and sweatpants and sitting on my butt. My job was to keep this baby in. I had to stop working out, limit walking around and rest as much as possible.
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