The day we met the full Hopkins team
We had our latest appointment at Johns Hopkins this past Thursday. The morning started with our fourth sonogram in four weeks. That is one thing that has been great about this journey—getting to see our baby girl so much.
We then met with Dr. Jena Lyn Miller, assistant professor of gynecology and obstetrics and assistant professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, and Dr. Ahmet Alexander Baschat, director of the center for fetal therapy. Both of them are rock stars. In our consultation we learned that Baby Girl’s condition had stayed constant, which we took as a good sign because it meant that it didn’t get any worse.
We were cleared to participate in the trial I mentioned in my email. Essentially, the doctors will insert a balloon in the baby’s trachea while she is still in utero, causing the lungs to expand. Here is more detail on this amazing procedure if you are interested.
We scheduled a date for the procedure: Aug. 1, 2017.
After the procedure, Adrienne will have to stay within 30 driving minutes of the hospital until the balloon is removed in mid September. This is a precaution in case she goes into premature labor. If that were to happen, it is crucial that the doctors pop the balloon before the baby is born so she can breathe. Pre-op begins the day before, July 31, 2017, and we will share more details about our whereabouts as we proceed.
The video below does a great job of explaining everything that is involved. We are the eighth family to undergo this procedure at Hopkins. This is the story of one of the other seven.
We also did a tour of the NICU and PICU at Johns Hopkins. The facilities are first class, and we feel that we will be in good care. The NICU was clean, quiet and full of wonderful nurses. Each of the babies has their own private room with a sleeping chair for mom or dad if we want to spend the night. There is even an iPad in each room that contains the baby’s charts.
We also met with the doctors at the NICU and the PICU and were so heartened by their intelligence and expertise. The big thing we took away is that they are all coordinated and working together on a holistic treatment plan for our baby. They meet every other Friday to discuss cases. We think that is so important and are so happy to hear about the procedures they have in place.
