Monday, August 17, 2009

HPE

Here she is on ultrasound at this appointment. This is her humerus (upper arm).

Our baby girl was diagnosed with Holoprosencephaly (HPE). We saw Dr. Richards at Shands at UF. We weren't given too much information at the time of our appointment. Dr. R drew a picture and wrote the name of it down on a piece of paper. He told us our baby would not live very long once she is born. At almost 16 weeks, her other systems looked normal on the scan, which was good. He didn't detect a cleft lip/palate on the ultrasound. He said that my pregnancy should go to term. A possible problem could be overabundance of amniotic fluid due to the baby having trouble swallowing (polyhydramnios). We ask for specific prayer that this would not happen. We will go back to Shands for another ultrasound with Dr. Richards at 22 weeks. There is so much to tell, but the past few days have been trying. We are praying for a miracle from Jesus for our daughter. If that is not His will, then we are praying that He would transform us through this situation and use our baby girl as a testimony and instrument of His grace.

I have an appointment with my favorite OB this morning. I look forward to it and will try to offer more information. Meanwhile, I'm trusting in God and am thankful for ALL the prayers we are receiving. We really feel them.

What is HPE?

4 comments:

Melissa said...

What a beautiful name, for a beautiful child. I will be following along with you, and your progress. This is melisa from our playgroup by the way.

Unknown said...

Thank you, Melissa! I appreciate you!

Chris@Joyful Mother said...

Daily you are on my heart, DAILY!! I pray for you and Kara daily and for your family !!

Love you girl!!!

gfcfmomofmany said...

10 years ago I went to an u/s where the tech turned white and ran from the room. She had found that my second daughter had anecephaly, most of her brain had not developed. My heart breaks for you, but my christian soul sings. In this time of trial you and your whole family will stand on a hill and you have the opportunity to shout the praises of the Lord. I encourage you to! If you need to talk to someone who has been right where you are feel free to email me. Blessing to you and your entire family healing and strength be with you.

God bless
Heather L
www.specialneedshomeschooling.com