here we go again

it's been almost two years since our roller coaster of an experience with Raef started, and we've come to find ourselves in almost the same exact situation with our new bundle of joy.

yes, baby Young number 2 is on his way. yes, his way.

at our 18 week appointment on November 24th, where we were to see our baby for the first time on ultrasound, we anxiously awaited the little guy's silhouette to appear on the screen. the technician started scanning the baby, and Reid and i could immediately see that there was a huge black circle on the screen where most of the baby should be. we recognized it as the same condition that Raef had, but didn't say a word to each other until after the doctor came in to break the news that our child had some sort of urinary tract obstruction and couldn't empty its bladder. you can read more about LUTO and how it's treated here.

we were stunned. didn't everyone say that we didn't have to worry about this happening again? didn't they say it was a 1 in 40,000 chance and that there was no way we would ever have to deal with that again?

we were immediately referred to the Maternal Fetal Diagnostic Center in Peoria. we were to see Dr. Leonardi who delivered our son Raef almost two years ago. the next day, we traveled to Peoria and met with Dr. Leonardi for the first time. he was fantastic. we felt immediately like we had an advocate and would soon be on our way to a far away city to see what our options were. Reid and i were happy that the problem was found weeks earlier than in our last pregnancy, and that we were being referred to the people we needed to see much sooner than last time too. we weren't willing to waste any time.

we made arrangements with Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) to fly to Philly on the 1st of December and be seen by specialists on the 2nd. luckily, we have wonderful friends who were willing to put us up in their home during our stay. Becky, Andy and Anneke Newgren have been our home base while we're in Philly.

after a long day of MRIs, ultrasounds, and genetic consultations, we were met by Dr. Nahla Khalek about our options. she informed us that because the baby was sitting in very low amniotic fluid, we were eligible to receive a fetal shunt if lab tests on bladder taps came back favorable in terms of kidney function.

two bladder taps were performed, one the next day, on the 3rd. the first tap showed favorable results. the second tap was performed on the 6th of December and after a night of waiting in sheer anticipation for good results, we got a call from Dr. Khalek on the 7th that the second bladder tap showed favorable results as well. the placement of the shunt was scheduled for the 9th. in the meantime, we were to come in one more time to have saline infused into the amniotic sac to give the kid some room to move around and some fluid to breathe in.

the surgery itself was a breeze for me. i was able to nap through the whole thing. i went home later that afternoon with no complications and was put on strict bed rest. during our stay in the hospital, we were visited by Becky and a new friend, Rev. Bill Golderer, head of staff at Arch Street Presbyterian Church in Philly and also the founding pastor and convenor of Broad Street Ministry in Philly (Arch Street's sister church). it was incredibly heartwarming to have friendly faces grace our hospital room as we stay in a city that's not our home.

before we were released, we got to see our child again on an ultrasound, and his bladder was so small that you could see the rest of him! the doctor confirmed that he did not have club foot, and that his anatomy was totally normal...except for whatever was causing his bladder to stay full.

the weekend was met with Reid constantly reminding me to put my feet up (i'm not excellent at resting) and us doing nothing at all. Sunday night we did however get to eat dinner with Joe Fike, his wife Meghan Whitmer, and their adorable daughter Maggie. so much fun, and a great distraction on a Sunday night.

now, today is Monday, the 13th of December, 12 days after our initial arrival in Philly. the ultrasound performed this afternoon showed the child to have mysteriously grown a huge bladder once again! the ultrasound tech said that it looked as if he had his hand pressed neatly over the end of the shunt that was coming out of his tummy. they believe that he may have just obstructed it for a while, or he could have pushed it all the way into his abdomen. we were warned that these kids like to pull on and play with the shunts so it's not a huge surprise, but definitely a small setback in terms of getting home as soon as we'd like.

the plan is to remain in Philly and go back to CHOP on Wednesday morning to see if the obstruction was purely the baby's fault and has been corrected, or if they need to do the surgery again.

we're so incredibly lucky to be in Philadelphia. we are surrounded by a community that cares, and friends from home, it's pretty sweet actually. that's not to say that i can't wait to get home to my nice little house, family, job, and adorable cat, Signe.