Comments on: Our Pregnancy Scare

By: Branigan Barnett

Branigan Barnett — Mon, 13 Jul 2020 06:50:59 +0000

In reply to Jenny.

Thank you for sharing…I know your baby will be perfect and I’m so happy your outcome was different then mine! It’s been almost two weeks since I felt and held my son…Cannon Keith not a minute goes by that we don’t think about you. You were and are so deeply loved. Mommy and Daddy miss you buddy every second of the day….I haven’t quite been ready to address what happened but I know what happened to you isn’t right and we will fight for you and fight for answers. Tuesday June 20th I went in for a standard ultrasound after having a perfectly healthy pregnancy so far. Since I would’ve been 35 when I delivered I had to go to a fetal specialist for this ultra sound. Due to Covid I had to go alone. I sat and watched my son on a screen perfectly healthy bouncing around everywhere. He was perfect. After the ultra sound a doctor whom I had never met walked in and forever changed our life’s. She explained there were some soft findings on the ultrasound she was concerned with. I immediately started having a panic attack since we had early genetic testing that came back perfect (these results are typically 99% accurate) she instructed me she would like to do an amniocentesis test. She explained these are done often and have a 1 in 1000 chance of miscarriage-she explained this needed to happen to rule out infection etc or help us prepare if there was indeed something medically wrong with our son. I again was alone but called me husband to get down to hospital right away-being alone I shouldn’t be allowed in making these decisions….I was having a panic attack Uncontrollably shaking-you never think this can happen to you. I just wanted our son to be okay. You trust what your specialist say and recommend right? I did not watch the procedure on screen as they said it only took 1 minute super easy…..the doctor inserted a needle into my stomach-as she started to pull out the needle I felt panic in the room….she explained my sons heartbeat was decreasing and this shouldn’t happen….we watched for two minutes as my son struggled to breath and repeatedly just heard the words from the doctor saying “this shouldn’t be happening”….”i don’t know what happened….this had never happened before”….she sat me up and Ryan had arrived-she tried to explain what happened but really couldn’t….she made us wait an hour before checking his heart again. The next ultrasound his heart was normal and the prayers continued-the doctor again kept repeating to us how worried she was….Wednesday morning we went back to the doctor and my sons heartbeat couldn’t be found….I was admitted to hospital and after 48 hours of labor delivered him…he was absolutely perfect….we are trying so hard to pray and not be angry but there are just answers we don’t have…but I know We will not stop until We have answers. I will never understand why this happened and a part of my heart will forever be broken. He is and always will be my son. I’m not sure what I hope for in our findings but I do know this…..Cherish every second you have…cherish your family your loved ones…cherish your life…our son is in the comments…He was perfect and was taken from us way to soon….I trust that god had a bigger plan for him….

By: Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 14 May 2020 08:39:09 +0000

What wonderful news that baby boy is healthy. At my 20 week ultrasound with my second son we learned he had Spina Bifida. Actually more specifically he had something called hindbrain herniation or a Chiari malformation that typically indicates Spina Bifida but because baby didn’t want to show his back it couldn’t be confirmed. What happened next was a blur but we went to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for our second opinion (we’re from CT), moved to a furnished rental within 2 weeks with our 2.5 year old and completely upended our lives for 4 months so he could have his surgery with the best. I also spent a lot of that time hospitalized myself because of pre term labor. In my case the worst was true but my son is five now and I’m listening to him sleep next to me at the moment. He has developed seizures in addition to Spina Bifida and cannot sleep alone but you’ll see when you have that baby the ferocity of your love knows no bounds and if you’re ever in a time where worst case becomes reality you will get through. It sounds like this experience although very upsetting gave you the gift of perspective and I completely agree that Doctors come in all ways because they’re human like us. Never hesitate to ask your questions and demand your answers. My husband once “offered” to physically “escort” a doctor from the room that was being rude and inappropriate and was wrong when we got a second opinion just like yours! Best of luck with the rest of your pregnancy.

By: Hellie

Hellie — Thu, 30 Apr 2020 15:12:22 +0000

Sorry you had to go through such a traumatic experience with the doctor. Many years ago we experienced something very similar being told I was in a high risk group and that baby could have downs syndrome. He basically said to us I’ll give you 5 minutes to make a decision and he left the room… We are now proud parents of a very academic, healthy 16 year old teenage daughter. Even now I often think about the words of “that” doctor and wish that I had complained about his bedside manner so no other expectant mother would have to endure what we did. Somethings in life you don’t forget ! Enjoy the rest of the pregnancy – everything will be fine x

By: Ioana

Ioana — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 21:43:52 +0000

Katie, I am crying tears of joy reading this! I am so happy for you three and I truly wish you all the best forward. Thank you for sharing your story with us readers.

By: Cathie

Cathie — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 01:22:51 +0000

Hi Katie – I was so sad to hear the emotional trauma you and Nick went through – my husband and I used to live in Houston and Chicago but have now moved back to where we both grew up in Australia – we have 2 children aged 12 and 14 years. I will never forget how pregnancy at times could make you feel like you are walking on egg shells. Thank goodness everything is well with your baby boy. I love your blog and look forward to reading more about your journey. Enjoy your family!

By: Lindsay S

Lindsay S — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 01:21:14 +0000

I’ve been following your journey because ironically, I’m very close to you in terms of weeks (I’m 24 weeks as of this past Friday). Ironically, I do social media marketing for a job and have always thought about posting about my pregnancy and blogging about it along the way. Well my feelings on that changed after I had a miscarriage last year. We hadn’t told anyone, not even our families (I was only 7.5 weeks) and just telling the few people in our lives that we were close enough to was excruciating. I kept thinking that I couldn’t do that with a larger group of people. So this time around, we’ve been keeping it close to ourselves and I haven’t put anything on social media. We didn’t even tell our parents until we were 14 weeks this time around. We’ve slowly been telling other friends but between the quarantine and our previous loss, I have literally had no desire to post anything anywhere. It’s the weirdest feeling because I’ve always been so open about everything in my life on social media. Maybe it just comes with age and time, but at this point I just want to wait and make sure everything is okay, and then once the baby arrives I’ll be more willing to share. Anyway, my point in all of this is I can’t imagine what you must have been going through getting this (false) news. I’m so glad to hear everything is okay!

By: Joann Orphanos Pappas

Joann Orphanos Pappas — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 20:12:53 +0000

Hi Katie, I read your story today and couldn’t help but cry over what you both went through. My husband is an OB-GYN and even though child birth is a beautiful thing, I have learned that sometimes things don’t go as expected. I am sorry for your worry, but so grateful that your baby boy is safe and healthy. Take care of yourself and focus on that wonderful day that your baby boy will be here with you both. You are now added to my prayers! God bless you and your family

By: Julie

Julie — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 19:12:23 +0000

Katie I am so so sorry that you had to endure this! As a medical profession and fellow pregnant gal my heart goes out to you. I’m so glad you had the foresight to get a second opinion! You’re so right no one dr is 100% right and if there is anything that bothers you you should always get more opinions until you feel good about what you are hearing. Praying for you and little man! He’s so lucky to have such a strong set of parents!

By: Annie

Annie — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 12:57:50 +0000

I choked up reading this. I’m 36 weeks pregnant and while I’ve only had some slight issues, I know the feeling of going to a perinatal testing center and not feeling supported and heard. I’m so glad that you guys sought a second opinion and that your new environment is the one you deserve. I can’t wait to see your baby boy in a few months!

By: Megan

Megan — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 03:07:21 +0000

I am so truely sorry you had to go through such a traumatic experience. Its so so scary! I am though so happy with your second ultrasound went well and you had such a kind Doctor. When I was pregnant with my youngest daughter; they told me their was something on her heart which could also indicate down syndrome and she made need surgery as soon as she’s born. I was referred to fetal specialist 2 weeks later for another ultrasound and as it turns out..after 2 weeks of tears and worrying..it was a calcium deposit. She was perfectly healthy. Its so so scary not knowing. We also live in PA too. I wish you all the best with your baby boy