Gastroschisis in 1966

I guess I may officially be the oldest surviving gastroschisis baby on this board thus far! I’ve got you beat by one month, Kathy! I was born at Yale New Haven Hospital in Connecticut, USA in August of 1966 with gastroschisis. I was a full term baby weighing 7 lbs. 6 oz. Without the modern advances of ultrasound, my mother had no idea that I would be born with this birth defect. She was 22 and I was her first child. I was in ICU for about 4 weeks. At that time, mothers were not allowed any contact with their newborns in neonatal ICU, and I recall her telling me how heartsick she was that she was not able to hold me or take me home.

It was traumatic as a little girl and young teenager having no belly button (I also had nothing covering my umbilical area, so I have a 3″ scar in the middle of my abdomen), but I soon got to like educating people who thought it was impossible not to have a belly button! By the time I was in my late teens, I had no problem wearing a bikini on the beach and no longer felt self conscious about my scar. The only thing I find annoying now is that some of the skin at the top of the scar puckers out (my surgeon’s poor attempt to “create” something that resembled a belly button) and rubs on my clothing.

In putting my internal organs back inside my abdomen, the surgeons removed my appendix, but other than that, as far as I know everything is normal internally. I had a completely normal childhood physically, though I did and do tend to have problems with bad gas pains from time to time (don’t know if that is related to the gastroschisis or not).

Since I adopted both my children, I do not know if there are any effects on my fertility due to the gastroschisis. I never tried to get pregnant, so I have no reason to believe that I am infertile. Everything else seems to be working correctly in that department.

My 3 year old is at that stage where every person she draws has a belly button. I always know which pictures are of me! In fact, two weeks ago she informed her entire preschool class that her mommy did not have a belly button and her teacher argued with her that that couldn’t be true! When I came to pick my daughter up, the teacher said, “You would not believe what your daughter told us today. She says you have no belly button.” Boy, was she shocked when I told her that my little one was telling the truth! I usually get a “how can that be?” response. I tell people, “a belly button is not a vital organ!” People don’t seem to understand that you can be born with an umbilical cord but still not end up with a belly button!

So, as Kathy says, for all the moms out there worried about their babies with gastroschisis, please take heart in the fact that there are those of us who survived without any of the modern conviences of the 21st century and many of us are trudging into middle age leading perfectly healthy lives!