Daddy's nose

We had our last doctor's appointment today before February 2, when Davis will be induced. The ultrasound technician played around with the 3D feature a little- it doesn't work as well now that he is getting bigger, but I think you can see that he's got his daddy's nose. 

Looks like he'll be about 6 1/2 pounds, but that measurement is based partly on the size of his abdomen. Since some of his abdominal contents are in his chest, there's a good chance that number is artificially smaller and not entirely 

accurate. 

We've had a lot of questions about what will happen when Davis is born. His biggest obstacle is lung function- since some of his abdominal contents (mostly intestines) are in his chest, they've kept his lungs from growing fully. He'll be intubated immediately, and he'll probably need either a conventional or high frequency ventilator. From there, he will most likely be dealing with pulmonary hypertension. The way we understand it, his veins and arteries are normally sized, which can constrict his underdeveloped lungs.  If nitric oxide and the ventilator don't help the hypertension issue, there's a possibility that he may need ECMO, which is a heart/lung bypass. We really want to avoid that, so that's all I'll say about it here. After the hypertension is under control to a reasonable extent, then we can begin talking about his repair surgery to fix the hole in his diaphragm and move misplaced organs. Then we work on feeding and growing... but that's a ways down the road. 

Speaking of feeding and growing, there's been cause for celebration in Parker's house! Our housemates, Brad and Kellie, have been working on their son Carter's feeds for quite a while now. It's been the only thing keeping him at Duke for weeks, and it looks like he's finally got it. He may be on his way home soon, and with no additional surgery for a g-tube! We are so excited for them!!! If you want to learn a bit more about the CDH journey and see the cutest little boy ever (well, until next week anyway), check out their blog: www.bradandkellie.blogspot.com.