Monday, August 07, 2006

Ultrasounds...

While scanning the news on my comcast home page I came across this article on ultrasounds. My last two pregnancies were quite eventful. I gave birth to twins prematurely and lost them after only 30 minutes. I became pregnant with Jackson on THEIR original due date. I had an ultrasound quite early with him to verify it was a single pregnancy. Then another routine ultrasound at around 20 weeks. It was then we discovered something was wrong. After a few weeks, we ended up having a 3D ultrasound every could of weeks. Jackson was diagnosed with a Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia. Basically he had a hole in his diaphragm and his intestines were in his chest cavity. So we had A LOT of ultrasounds (I'd have to go through all the discs and pics to give an exact number) to monitor his condition. So according to this article, I should now be worried about mental retardation and childhood epilepsy to developmental dyslexia, autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia, to say the least. Hasn't Jackson been through enough??!! Haven't I been through enough? Not long after his birth, Jackson was also diagnosed with Craniosynostosis. Basically, the soft spots in his skull closed way too early. He had surgery for that in February where the surgeon had to actually take portions of his skull out to accommodate for brain growth, thus the helmet he is required to wear. What more do I have to worry about?! Yes I know these tests were done on mice, but aren't most studies done on mice? I'm just so upset. I've always been scared for Jackson's future in relationship to what he's already endured, do I need more?

1 comment:

Ami said...

There are literally hundreds of medical tests that are administered after the doctor weighs the benefits vs the risks. Jackson is doing well today because of some of those tests. I won't tell you not to worry.. you're a mom and that's what we do best. World championship worriers. But I will say that after reading that article and wandering around the 'net a bit, it doesn't sound like it's going to be a big factor in his development.
{{Sunnie}}