Omphalo-what?!?!

On August 10th, my husband and I found out that we were going to be parents for the first time.  We were so excited because this sweet baby was the answer to our long-awaited prayers!  I had been taking Metformin and a low-dose aspirin regimen to treat my PCOS, and we had been "working" very hard to create our little miracle.  ;)  After seven weeks of pregnancy, we had a big scare though - I started bleeding severely and was rushed to the emergency room.  Thankfully, the bleeding was controlled, but we found out that this pregnancy would not be as easy as we had hoped for.  I discovered that I am Rh negative and also have a bicornuate uterus.  We knew that these would be small challenges in this and future pregnancies, but we continued on with business as usual...nausea, food aversions, exhaustion, and all!  Knowing that challenges usually come in threes, I was confident that I had experienced all three of mine (1 - PCOS, 2 - Rh negative, 3 - biconuate uterus)!  

Since I am an early childhood special education teacher and know the importance of early diagnosis, I decided to have the optional first trimester screening done at twelve weeks...but I was confident that my baby would be perfect and the screening would be quick and painless!  During the screening, I knew that something was not quite right though.  My ultrasound felt like it lasted forever and the moods of everyone at the genetic clinic seemed to shift.  No explanations though.  The next day I went to see my OB.  She sat me down and explained to me that they found something...possibly an abdominal wall defect...high-risk…surgeries…everything became a blur.

My husband and I spent the next week scouring the internet, trying to decipher medical articles, and looking at statistics and numbers.  I would fall asleep on the couch every evening from emotional exhaustion but wake up in the middle of the night crying hysterically.  At thirteen weeks, we were able to meet with the maternal fetal medicine specialist and genetic counselors.  We had yet another ultrasound (I believe this was my 7^th…I had lost count), and she diagnosed it as an omphalocele.  Receiving this diagnosis was bittersweet - we finally had an answer, but it came with a whole new set of questions.  What caused it?  Are there any other defects or chromosomal abnormalities associated?  Where do we go from here?  The genetic counselor suggested that I have a chorionic villus sample taken to help answer some of these questions, and I went in for one the following day.  (Not fun, by the way!!)  Now here I am, waiting for results and praying for a healthy baby boy.

I have to say that somewhere between the diagnosis and the current moment (less than 48 hours), I have had an attitude adjustment though.  Instead of feeling depressed and withdrawn, I have decided to be proud of how strong my baby boy is and share my story with the world.  I know this journey will be a long one, but I cannot wait for the day I get to hold him in my arms…and show his future girlfriends naked pictures of him and his “O!” :)


For those of you out there who like to research like we do, here is a starting point to explain more about the big O...


https://health.google.com/health/ref/Omphalocele