Jude was born on September 27, 2011 at 7:25 p.m. He weighed 8 lbs and was 21 inches long! As soon as Jude was delievered, they took him to the NICU to check out his cyst and decided it was an omphalocele.
Pregnancy
During our 20 week ultrasound the tech found a cyst on Jude's umbilical cord where it meets his stomach. After meeting with a specialist and another ultrasound, they decided Jude could have an omphalocele (a birth defect in which the infant's intestine or other abdominal organs stick out of the belly button (navel). In babies with an omphalocele, the intestines are covered only by a thin layer of tissue and can be easily seen.). We also had an amniocentesis done, because children with omphaloceles are at a high risk for chromosomal disorders. Jude's amniocentesis came back as having no abnormalities.
Throughout the rest of the pregnancy, on top of our regular doctor visits, we also saw a specialist once a month, and at 30 weeks began non-stress tests twice a week to monitor Jude’s development. The doctors were all very hopeful because Jude's cyst was one of the smallest cysts they had seen. They even thought it may just be an empty cyst because he had no other issues that are typically associated with omphaloceles. To be safe, the doctors had me deliver at the University of Utah Hospital, so if it was an omphalocele, Jude could easily be taken to Primary Children's Hospital.
The doctors induced labor on September 27th and Jude was born at 7:25 pm, weighing 8 lbs and measuring 21 inches. They had us deliver in a room connected by a window to the U of U's NICU. When Jude was born they laid him on me for about 60 seconds and then he was passed to the NICU. Chris was able to go back with him to the NICU. They decided that Jude did in fact have an omphalocele. Primary Children's was called to transport him to their NICU. They brought him back into the delivery room in the life flight (even though he didn't fly anywhere) transport machine so that we could say goodbye. Chris was able to give Jude a priesthood blessing and walk with the transport team and Jude to Primary Children's. Chris was also able to hold Jude that night once they got to Primary Children's.
Surgery
Since Jude's omphalocele repair was not an emergency procedure, they scheduled Jude’s operation for the next day. Chris stayed with Jude until midnight on the first night and they wouldn’t let me come over because my body was not quite ready for the walk. The next morning, Wednesday, they let me go to Primary Children’s to hold Jude and be with him for about 3 hours. Chris stayed with Jude that afternoon and was able to walk over with Jude to the operating room.
The doctors operated on September 28 from 5:00-6:50. Chris was able to wait in the waiting room and met Jude back in his room in the NICU when surgery was finished. The surgeon came out after the surgery was done and explained that the mass that was inside of Jude’s omphalocele was something called a Meckel's Diverticulum. Basically, it is a part of the intestines that is usually obliterated during embryonic development. Since this is an unnecessary part of the intestines, the surgeon removed it and repaired the intestines.
Recovery
Jude was then sent back to the NICU to begin the recovery process. He was put on a breathing tube for the operation and that was taken out the next day. He struggled to breathe at first when they took the tube out, so he was on oxygen. He had a tube placed down his throat called an Anderson Tube that drains the contents of his stomach. He was also given an IV since he was not ready to digest food.
Jude was progressing very well and was able to lose the Anderson Tube, one of the IV’s, and he is no longer on antibiotics. On Sunday, he was able to start wearing clothes and sleeping in a crib since his surgical dressing was removed. Monday he started to be fed with a bottle, he was only able to have 10 ml. He continued to do well and hated that he didn't get as much food as he wanted. By Saturday, October 8th he was up to his full feed. The doctors had me do non-nutritional breastfeeding...rudest thing to ever do if you ask me! By Tuesday they were allowing me to breastfeed him. Jude still struggled to be off of oxygen, which prolonged his stay in the NICU. They continued to do final tests and were going to let us go home on Tuesday. However, when they did a final echo cardiogram, they found that one of his holes in his heart had not closed (the other two had). So they made us stay and meet with the cardiologists on Wednesday. The cardiologists told us his hole was perfectly normal, and 1 in 4 people live with a hole in the heart with no problems. Some people's just don't close off, I (Brooke) also have a hole in my heart, and I'm fine. The cardiologists also said that it was so small we didn't need to followup with them. They ended up releasing us Wednesday at about 5:45 p.m. Sounds easy enough, except for everything you have to do to leave! Top it all of with a baby who wants to eat and shift change! Shift change is from 6:30-7:30 morning and night and no one is allowed in the rooms during shift change. We did have to bring Jude home on oxygen, but he was weaned off it after about 1.5 weeks. Primary Children's Medical Center was great! The doctors and nurses all really cared about Jude and were always there to answer any questions we had! We are so grateful we were able to have Jude in such good hands!
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