Alaina's Story
When we first found out we were pregnant with our third child we were very excited! When we told our other two daughters (now ages 13 and 16) they laughed out of excitement and cried out of joy! Everything went well for the first 20 weeks, other than the normal minor discomforts of pregnancy.
On May 1, 2002, we went in for a routine ultrasound and found out that our baby had a type II SCT. We were devastated! We soon realized that we had to put our trust in our faith. I had to see a specialist every month, who was an hour and a half away. Every time we went, the tumor had grown. Everything else remained healthy except that the baby's kidneys were enlarged.
We went to see the pediatric surgeon, who would be doing her surgery, and he was very encouraging. We also took a tour of the NICU and talked to the neonatologists to learn some of the things our baby would go through. They were all so helpful. We had to not let the sadness cloud out the joy of looking forward to the arrival of a new baby.
As my pregnancy went on, I had a very hard time. I had never been so uncomfortable. I tried physical therapy, exercise, and an ultrasound and blood-work to check for anything else that may be wrong. They found nothing except that my kidneys were enlarged, which they said sometimes happens during pregnancy. I could not sit, stand, lay, or move in any way that was comfortable. As it turned out, it was because the tumor was growing so big and I had an excessive amount of amniotic fluid. The doctor said that he could drain some, but that if he did, I risked going into premature labor and he said the baby wasn't ready for that. We decided to go home and give the baby more time to develop so that hopefully surgery would be more tolerable.
A couple weeks later, at almost 35 weeks, I went to my OB doctor, whom I was seeing between visits to the specialist. I had gotten a lot bigger and she thought that I was way too big and was at a greater risk of going into premature labor than if I had the fluid drained. She called my doctors and they said to pack a bag and come to the hospital.
At the hospital they drained the fluid and did an ultrasound, where they discovered the baby's heart wasn't doing well. They said the baby's lungs weren't mature and I was having contractions so they admitted me and started giving me medicine to stop my contractions and steroids to help the baby's lungs mature. The pediatric cardiologist did an ultrasound of the baby's heart and it was doing much better, so we waited one more day to allow me to take more steroids.
Before they delivered the baby, via c-section, they drained as much fluid as they could from the tumor to allow for a safer delivery. Then on August 08, 2002, at 5:34pm, our precious daughter Alaina Marielle was born. She was crying, which was music to my ears, but they quickly showed her to us and then whisked her off to the NICU, where they had to put her on the ventilator.
I didn't get to see her until 7 and a half hours later and I didn't get to hold her until the next day, right before her surgery. It was incredibly difficult to see her with all the tubes! Not to mention hard to hold her. It was hard to let her go to surgery, but for some reason I felt an unexplainable peace.
Surgery lasted 6 hours. They had to go in through her abdomen to remove the internal portion of the tumor and she had to have 2 blood transfusions. He said the tumor was very large, especially on the inside. He said it had grown into some muscles and into her spine. He had to reconstruct the muscles and couldn't guarantee that he had gotten it all out of her spine.
In the NICU we spent countless hours doing nothing, but standing there watching her and praying for her. She was finally taken off of the respirator when she was 8 days old. She was put on something called c-pap. What she had to endure over the next 3 weeks seemed endless!
22 days after she was born, Alaina finally got to come home! She had to come home on oxygen, but we were just ecstatic that she got to come home with us, where she belonged.
At first she had to have monthly blood draws to check her AFP levels and quarterly MRIs. When she was 4 months old they found something on the MRI that concerned them. They did not know whether it was scar tissue or the tumor coming back to haunt us again. She had the surgery that they recommended. Our hearts were broken once again. But praise the Lord, literally!- They found nothing!
She was followed by oncology for 2 and a half years. We've been battling diapers, many, many, many of them, and rashes, in which we've tried everything under the sun to cure! She has also been followed by urology because she had hydrenephrosis of the kidneys. Recently we had to begin intermittent catheterizations because she can't fully empty her bladder. We are also trying to figure out the “poopy†situation, but she is otherwise a happy, healthy, 3 and a half year old that I call sweet girl!
This is what we put on the front of Alaina's birth announcement and I try to read it and remind myself of what it says when we're going through a tough time. I thought you all might find it helpful.
Our daughter is not here by chance.
But by God's choosing.
His hand formed her
And made her the person she is.
He compares her to no one else:
She is one of a kind.
She will lack nothing
That His grace can't give her.
He has allowed her to be here
At this time in history
To fulfill His special purpose
For this generation.
We went to see the pediatric surgeon, who would be doing her surgery, and he was very encouraging. We also took a tour of the NICU and talked to the neonatologists to learn some of the things our baby would go through. They were all so helpful. We had to not let the sadness cloud out the joy of looking forward to the arrival of a new baby.
As my pregnancy went on, I had a very hard time. I had never been so uncomfortable. I tried physical therapy, exercise, and an ultrasound and blood-work to check for anything else that may be wrong. They found nothing except that my kidneys were enlarged, which they said sometimes happens during pregnancy. I could not sit, stand, lay, or move in any way that was comfortable. As it turned out, it was because the tumor was growing so big and I had an excessive amount of amniotic fluid. The doctor said that he could drain some, but that if he did, I risked going into premature labor and he said the baby wasn't ready for that. We decided to go home and give the baby more time to develop so that hopefully surgery would be more tolerable.
A couple weeks later, at almost 35 weeks, I went to my OB doctor, whom I was seeing between visits to the specialist. I had gotten a lot bigger and she thought that I was way too big and was at a greater risk of going into premature labor than if I had the fluid drained. She called my doctors and they said to pack a bag and come to the hospital.
At the hospital they drained the fluid and did an ultrasound, where they discovered the baby's heart wasn't doing well. They said the baby's lungs weren't mature and I was having contractions so they admitted me and started giving me medicine to stop my contractions and steroids to help the baby's lungs mature. The pediatric cardiologist did an ultrasound of the baby's heart and it was doing much better, so we waited one more day to allow me to take more steroids.
Before they delivered the baby, via c-section, they drained as much fluid as they could from the tumor to allow for a safer delivery. Then on August 08, 2002, at 5:34pm, our precious daughter Alaina Marielle was born. She was crying, which was music to my ears, but they quickly showed her to us and then whisked her off to the NICU, where they had to put her on the ventilator.
I didn't get to see her until 7 and a half hours later and I didn't get to hold her until the next day, right before her surgery. It was incredibly difficult to see her with all the tubes! Not to mention hard to hold her. It was hard to let her go to surgery, but for some reason I felt an unexplainable peace.
Surgery lasted 6 hours. They had to go in through her abdomen to remove the internal portion of the tumor and she had to have 2 blood transfusions. He said the tumor was very large, especially on the inside. He said it had grown into some muscles and into her spine. He had to reconstruct the muscles and couldn't guarantee that he had gotten it all out of her spine.
In the NICU we spent countless hours doing nothing, but standing there watching her and praying for her. She was finally taken off of the respirator when she was 8 days old. She was put on something called c-pap. What she had to endure over the next 3 weeks seemed endless!
22 days after she was born, Alaina finally got to come home! She had to come home on oxygen, but we were just ecstatic that she got to come home with us, where she belonged.
At first she had to have monthly blood draws to check her AFP levels and quarterly MRIs. When she was 4 months old they found something on the MRI that concerned them. They did not know whether it was scar tissue or the tumor coming back to haunt us again. She had the surgery that they recommended. Our hearts were broken once again. But praise the Lord, literally!- They found nothing!
She was followed by oncology for 2 and a half years. We've been battling diapers, many, many, many of them, and rashes, in which we've tried everything under the sun to cure! She has also been followed by urology because she had hydrenephrosis of the kidneys. Recently we had to begin intermittent catheterizations because she can't fully empty her bladder. We are also trying to figure out the “poopy†situation, but she is otherwise a happy, healthy, 3 and a half year old that I call sweet girl!
This is what we put on the front of Alaina's birth announcement and I try to read it and remind myself of what it says when we're going through a tough time. I thought you all might find it helpful.
Our daughter is not here by chance.
But by God's choosing.
His hand formed her
And made her the person she is.
He compares her to no one else:
She is one of a kind.
She will lack nothing
That His grace can't give her.
He has allowed her to be here
At this time in history
To fulfill His special purpose
For this generation.
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