The News....

A very special gift given to me at my first baby shower

On July 22nd we went in for a routine bi-weekly ultrasound.  At this point the Dr's had decided to see me every other week.  Since McKinley was quite a bit smaller and probably always would be, they wanted to check her often to make sure she wasn't in any distress.  They had also ordered an echocardiogram on McKinley's heart just to be sure that everyone was ok. After almost 4 hours on the ultrasound table and many ultrasound techs coming in and out to look at and discuss what they were seeing, I started to get a little uneasy.  When the Dr came in I was hit with news that I never in a million years expected to hear.  The Dr said that McKinley is very sick. To try and sum it all up, she only has one kidney, she has a heart disorder called a coarctation of the aorta and a possible spine problem. Any one of these issues alone can be survivable and possibly even operable, but all together does not bode well for McKinley. The Dr's are very concerned for her. They are sending me to Children's Hospital in the next month to get a second opinion on the ultrasound, as well as register McKinley in their system since that is most likely where she'll be headed after she's born. With all three of these problems (kidney, heart and spine) there is a suspicion that she may have some sort of chromosomal disorder or syndrome. We need to decide whether to do an amnio to help diagnose this or wait until she is born to do the blood work. Some of the disorders may be survivable, and some may not.
Of course this news for us has been extremely difficult and the helpless feeling of not being able to do anything is almost more than I can handle. However I know there is one thing I can do, and ask everyone I know to do, and that is to please pray, as often as you possibly can. I know that God can heal, and if he wants us to deliver a healthy baby girl in Sept/Oct than we will. I believe in the power of prayer and I believe that God can work miracles.