One of my main concerns about being separated into different hospitals from Mira right after she's born (other than just not wanting to let my newborn go) is: How will I feed her? I breastfed my first child, Dustin, for 4 months; and I breastfed my second child, Aryanna, for a year. Nursing my babies has always been such a special gift during the process of becoming a mother, and Mira is going to need every healthy advantage she can get!
After a lot of research, I have discovered that there are a few things I can do to increase her odds of pulling through her surgeries.
1) Breastfeeding. Breast milk has development boosting nutrients, immune boosting antibodies, and colostrum that is designed for a newborn's gut to start running as healthily as possible. Formula introduces bacteria into the baby's gut that their digestive tract is not yet ready for. Breast milk will ensure that she will get the maximum number of nutrients without introducing any foreign bacteria that could give her problems.
Breastfeeding will be difficult, though, because she will be in a different hospital. I am going to have to pump and hand express into little cups, and family, friends, and hospital staff will have to take turns transporting the milk over to her. Joe is going to have to learn how to syringe feed her because he is the one that will be with her at all times. She'll most likely be confined to an incubator, while lying on her stomach, so bottle feeding would be pretty difficult, if not impossible, for a little while. It will be difficult, but it's not impossible!
2) No Vaccines. Mira is already going to be waging a battle against her own body and against the trauma of surgery. Vaccines are filled with toxins and chemicals that can cause many complications, and almost always cause fevers and difficulty eating. Because of the battles Mira will already be waging against her own body, she does not need to have a war going on inside her blood, as well. She also needs to have the best shot at eating when she's allowed to have nutrients, so the last thing she needs are toxins that would bring complications into an already complicated recovery.
3) I am looking into Placenta Encapsulation. I have never consumed or encapsulated my placenta before. However, after I had Aryanna, I spoke to many women that did just that; had their placenta dehydrated, put into pills, and consumed them. If you've never heard of it, it can sound pretty strange or maybe even gross. The benefits, however, are astronomical! Also, there must be a reason why every other species on the planet consumes it's placenta after birthing babies (I think the rest of God's creatures are onto something). Throughout pregnancy, you feed your hormones, proteins, and nutrients to your baby (that sounds pretty obvious), but you also feed them to your placenta. The placenta absorbs all of these wonderful nutrients and chemicals that your body loses throughout the entire pregnancy. When you get the placenta encapsulated, you then take the pills, which turns into a wonderful medicine that is already engineered from your own body that encases all of the nutrients, hormones, and chemicals that you lost during your pregnancy and delivery. As soon as you start taking these pills, your body gets back what it lost, and what it desperately needs replenished.
The benefits of taking placenta capsules include: Getting rid of the "baby blues" and postpartum depression, increasing lactation and enriches your breast milk (great advantage for Mira because then she'll be getting all of these nutrients, as well), fights off infections, increases energy, stops bleeding and aids in wound healing, natural anti-inflammatory, boosts the immune system, prevents anemia (which is very common after delivering a baby), combats stress, and releases Oxytocin (the chemical that creates happiness).
Mira will get all of these wonderful benefits from my breast milk, as well, and an increased milk supply so she can eat as much as she can! It really sounds like a win/win, and I think it's just another small step in ensuring she is in the best shape possible to bounce back from all of this!
Breastfeeding and no vaccines are crucial to her recovery, and I'm beginning to become just as passionate about placenta encapsulation, even though it is entirely new to me. I will have to arrange all of this ahead of time with my family, friends, and all the medical personnel that will be helping us to ensure that my wishes for my daughter are followed. But, just to be safe, we will make a special sign that goes on her incubator, and it will read: "Absolutely no formula or vaccines. Seriously... we will sue!"
All babies deserve the absolute best, and I will do everything I can to ensure Mira gets exactly that!
Here are some informative links about the benefits of breastfeeding and placenta encapsulation, and some risks associated with vaccines:
http://www.babycenter.com/0_how-breastfeeding-benefits-you-and-your-baby_8910.bc
http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2011/10/the-benefits-of-placenta-encapsulation-for-postpartum-healing.html
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-risks-of-immunizations.htm
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Meeting the Genetic Counselors
The genetic counselors were AMAZING! The lead genetic counselor's name is Debbie, and from what I have come to understand, she won't be practicing medicine in any way, but her job is to basically be my high-risk pregnancy tour guide! My sister, Tammy, went with me to the appointment because Joe had to work. It was great that she went with me because the genetic counselors needed a VERY detailed family history, and the parts I didn't know, she did!
We allowed an intern to sit in on the process, and she was also fantastic! (I have always allowed interns and students to sit in on any medical visits or procedures I have ever had; being shy is something that no longer exists after having children, and it's always a great thing to help others learn!) They mentioned the possibility of doing an amniocentesis, but agreed with me when I declined doing so because they agreed it was unnecessary to bring those risks to the baby just to confirm what we already know.
The intern also sat in during my high resolution sonogram. During the sonogram, the stenographer was also amazing!, they confirmed everything that we suspected before: The open neural tube, the myelomeningocele, the chiari malformation, and the hydrocephalus. The new information we gained from the sonogram was that her left foot is now confirmed to be a club foot, and we now know that the gap in her spine and the myelomeningocele begin at the L2 and L3 vertebrae of the spine. We also know we will not be having an in-utero surgery, which is good news to me, because as far as they can tell, we will be able to carry her full-term! Which gives little Mira the best odds of recovering from all of the battles she faces because she will be fully developed before she starts having any surgeries!
Unfortunately, many of the questions we have cannot be answered until after she is born. We know she will definitely need at least one back surgery and at least one brain surgery to have her shunt placed. However, we do not know if her other organs are compromised, or will require surgery, we do not know if her club foot will need surgery, we do not know if her chiari malformation will need operated on, and we do not know how many surgeries she will need, or how long of a period they will span across. We also do not know if she has leg function or if she has any brain damage.
What I do know, which this is very hard to swallow but I am trying, is that I will have to deliver at one hospital, and right after delivery, once Mira is stable, she will be transported to another hospital to start her care and undergo her first surgery. It is VERY VERY difficult for me to be okay with letting her go, let her leave where I am, right after I have her! I hate knowing that I won't be able to be with her during her surgery! However, I KNOW this is in her best interest, and I know this situation is necessary in order for her to receive the best possible care she can get! This is why Joe will be going with her everywhere she goes after she is born. My sister, Tammy, said Joe is going to be the baby sitter, and Tammy is going to be the mommy sitter!
Once she is born, we are going to have so many of our questions answered, so I guess this is the calm before the storm. We'll just have to enjoy the silence for now, and prepare the best we can, and then be ready to have information falling out of our ears once she is born and start getting ALL of our questions answered and then some!
I do know that from now on, all of my prenatal care will be transferred to Pittsburgh, and that my genetic counselor, Debbie, will be making sure to arrange meetings with Mira's future surgeons during these visits, and will also make sure Joe and I get to meet all the nurses that will care for Mira, along with giving us tours of where Mira will be staying. She will take us through the NICU, get us familiarized with the NICU security protocols, and let us become as comfortable as we can with all of the environments we will be put in.
I am VERY happy with the people I met, and I have a great feeling about the care Mira and I will receive there. I am feeling very positive about the way things are going, and I feel like Joe and I have a really good understanding of what we need to be preparing for. The wind is in my sails, and I am ready for this journey! I feel like Mira is going to impress us all, and that we have found a team of great people to ensure her care and future!
We allowed an intern to sit in on the process, and she was also fantastic! (I have always allowed interns and students to sit in on any medical visits or procedures I have ever had; being shy is something that no longer exists after having children, and it's always a great thing to help others learn!) They mentioned the possibility of doing an amniocentesis, but agreed with me when I declined doing so because they agreed it was unnecessary to bring those risks to the baby just to confirm what we already know.
The intern also sat in during my high resolution sonogram. During the sonogram, the stenographer was also amazing!, they confirmed everything that we suspected before: The open neural tube, the myelomeningocele, the chiari malformation, and the hydrocephalus. The new information we gained from the sonogram was that her left foot is now confirmed to be a club foot, and we now know that the gap in her spine and the myelomeningocele begin at the L2 and L3 vertebrae of the spine. We also know we will not be having an in-utero surgery, which is good news to me, because as far as they can tell, we will be able to carry her full-term! Which gives little Mira the best odds of recovering from all of the battles she faces because she will be fully developed before she starts having any surgeries!
Unfortunately, many of the questions we have cannot be answered until after she is born. We know she will definitely need at least one back surgery and at least one brain surgery to have her shunt placed. However, we do not know if her other organs are compromised, or will require surgery, we do not know if her club foot will need surgery, we do not know if her chiari malformation will need operated on, and we do not know how many surgeries she will need, or how long of a period they will span across. We also do not know if she has leg function or if she has any brain damage.
What I do know, which this is very hard to swallow but I am trying, is that I will have to deliver at one hospital, and right after delivery, once Mira is stable, she will be transported to another hospital to start her care and undergo her first surgery. It is VERY VERY difficult for me to be okay with letting her go, let her leave where I am, right after I have her! I hate knowing that I won't be able to be with her during her surgery! However, I KNOW this is in her best interest, and I know this situation is necessary in order for her to receive the best possible care she can get! This is why Joe will be going with her everywhere she goes after she is born. My sister, Tammy, said Joe is going to be the baby sitter, and Tammy is going to be the mommy sitter!
Once she is born, we are going to have so many of our questions answered, so I guess this is the calm before the storm. We'll just have to enjoy the silence for now, and prepare the best we can, and then be ready to have information falling out of our ears once she is born and start getting ALL of our questions answered and then some!
I do know that from now on, all of my prenatal care will be transferred to Pittsburgh, and that my genetic counselor, Debbie, will be making sure to arrange meetings with Mira's future surgeons during these visits, and will also make sure Joe and I get to meet all the nurses that will care for Mira, along with giving us tours of where Mira will be staying. She will take us through the NICU, get us familiarized with the NICU security protocols, and let us become as comfortable as we can with all of the environments we will be put in.
I am VERY happy with the people I met, and I have a great feeling about the care Mira and I will receive there. I am feeling very positive about the way things are going, and I feel like Joe and I have a really good understanding of what we need to be preparing for. The wind is in my sails, and I am ready for this journey! I feel like Mira is going to impress us all, and that we have found a team of great people to ensure her care and future!
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