Gastroschisis

Hello! My name is Jackie and i wrote an entry awhile back. It contained a picture of my husband who is a marine and me next to him. We were expecting a baby girl on Oct. 26,08. She came early on Sept. 28. The doctors thought a part of her intestines were swollen and didnt want the rest of her intestines following the same suit so i was induced Sept. 26 and she came 2 days later. I delivered vaginal and the delivery was very successful. My daughter weighed 4lbs 11ounces and was 17 inches long.

I was able to see her a couple hours later and her intestines were in a silo. 7 days later all of her intestines were back inside of her tummy. She did have a bit of jaundice and it went away quickly. She had a tube going down her tummy to remove bile and she had a tube to give her oxygen. She had no problem breathing on her own but they wanted to keep it in just incase. She was receiving TPN and they monitored if she was pooping and peeing right. She didn’t poop for quite some time which is normal because it takes awhile for the intestines to wake up and start to push the poop down. After awhile she was given breast milk slowly.. and they checked to see if she was having bowel movements. Once she did they would feed her more and increase the cc’s she would take in. She started to poop more and was slowly taken off the machines. I was told she did very well for a gastro baby and were surprised at how quickly she recovered.

My daughter was in the hospital for a month and she was able to come home Oct. 24,08. I’m so happy she’s home and we’re able to be with her. Her belly looks wonderful and her wound is shrinking and healing nicely. She’s slowly gaining weight and is doing great. I’m so glad everything went well. [:

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This is my husband and I. He’s in the Marines and left for Iraq in April of this year. I was 3 months pregnant before he left and now I’m 5 months pregnant. My mom went with me to an appointment and I found out our baby had Gastroschisis about 3 weeks ago. I was scared and started crying all the time. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me and was even more upset since my husband wasn’t even here to help me. He didn’t know until the next time he called me, about 1 week after I found out, and I was so relieved when he called so I could tell him everything.

Talking to him about it made me feel like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders since he knew. I cried while I told him about it and the one thing I needed to hear the most, he said over the phone without any fear in his voice. He told me ” babe don’t worry, everything will be okae. ” I was so happy when he said that, he always knows what to say to make everything right again, my fears and sadness decreased so much after that. It makes me wonder if he knows something I don’t because he seemed so completely calm about the whole thing and until now he believes everything will be alright.

I prayed for strength and pray every night for her to be healthy and growing strong. I pray that when she’s born everything will be okae and she’ll have no complications. I also pray for my husband to return home safely and healthy mentally, physically and emotionally from Iraq.

I’m no longer afraid about her condition, only anxious for her to be here so she can be fixed. Since my husband is so far away, at times I cry a bit because I miss him and wish he was here to share my thoughts and feelings with. My husband being in Iraq and our daughter’s condition are the biggest events I’ve ever faced and the most trying experiences of my life.

Going through all of this by myself, since I’m living alone now that he’s gone, is hard and depressing at times but I try to stay positive and not think so much about it.

Until next time.. I’ll post again when I have an update on baby. =]

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