This is my story of fetal surgery for repair of Spina Bifida. When my mom was 20 weeks pregnant she went into the doctor to get an ultrasound. There is already 2 girls (see a picture of my sisters to the right)in our family, so my mom and dad really wanted a boy. The doctor said, "Yea it is a Boy!!! Oh...h, uh...h, see this! Your baby boy has spina bifida." The doctor did an amnio on my mom to find out more. My mom and dad were shocked. My mom cried a lot. She went on the internet and started learning more about Spina Bifida. Our doctor passed everything on Dr. Brunner at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN.

My mom and dad decided to go down to Nashville. and get the surgery. On August 23rd, 2001 me and my mom had surgery. We were the 134th family to undergo the surgery. My mom was 24 weeks pregnant when we recieved the surgery.

I had a L4 lesion and minor hydrocephalus. My mom is currently 28 weeks (9/21/01) pregnant. We recently found out that my hydrocephalus is getting worse. During a ultrasound the doctors measure the ventricals in the brain in order to see if hydrocephalus is present. (1-10 mm is normal, 11-15 is moderate, 16 and above is high) Up until a few days ago, my ventricals measured in at 11.6 mm. We just found out that they are now at 15.6 mm. We will now have an amnio done at 34 weeks and as soon as my lungs are ready I will be delivered. The only other problem that we have had at this point is that I do not have enough fluid around me. If all goes well I will deliver in the beginning to middle of November, 2001. My mom plans to deliver at Barns Hospital so that we are all close to Childrens Hospital in St. Louis, MO.