Pregnancy Journey

Throughout the pregnancy with Baer, Mallory was followed extremely closely with weekly ultrasounds to monitor his development. It was apparent early on that Baer was going to need specialized care based on what the scans were showing, we just didn’t quite know the extent of it yet.

Parental genetic testing and an amniocentesis was performed at the week 18 anatomy scan due to fluid build up seen in his chest, what appeared to be cysts near his bladder, and inability to get a clear image of his heart. A million possibilities were explored and discussed and our minds were flooded with fear. Hydrops, a slew of chromosomal and genetic were most prominent in these discussions. Our primary fear was losing our baby that we already loved so much. By a miracle, all the test results came back perfectly normal - no chromosomal or genetic disorders. Over the following weeks the fluid build up gradually dissipated and the fetal cysts disappeared completely!

Many more mysteries appeared and disappeared through the pregnancy. There were weeks when amniotic fluid was plentiful and other weeks where it was dangerously low. Baer’s heart continued to be an issue where it showed a narrowed aortic arch and several VSD’s so we added biweekly fetal cardiologist appointments to the weekly maternal fetal appointments. His feet showed to be clubbed, so we knew an orthopedic doctor would be in our future as well. Towards the end, it was noted by our teams that his kidneys were “small and bright”.

Meanwhile, he continued to grow fast and strong! He was in the 98th percentile for weight and belly size, and height and lengths were right on average. He was also following his dad’s family history of a large head. Because of his good growth, his on going puzzle of complex medical issues, and Mallory’s placenta previa, a plan was made for a scheduled C-Section on June 7th when Baer would be 37 weeks.

Baer was born the afternoon of June 7th weighing 8 pounds and 6 ounces and was 19 inches long at St.David’s North Medical Center. It was apparent that he was not getting enough oxygen and discovered that he had a collapsed lung on top of his known complexities, so within minutes of his birth he was rushed away to the NICU where his new medical team jumped into action.