Please help my baby with omphalocele

• Pregnancy is an undeniably life-changing experience. Not every woman is meant to become a mom, some may face a lot of struggles even before she can conceive one. During pregnancy, woman's body transcends numerous changes, hormonal and physical. The fact that another life lives within you is something you have to take seriously. It is a journey. And it should be showered with love, care and prayers. It is a negotiation between life because someone small like a pea is dependent on you and death, because complications might come in way both for the mother and the child.

I am 23 weeks pregnant right now and my ultrasound result last May 2, 2020 shows may that my baby has omphalocele. Omphalocele is a birth defect of the abdominal (belly) wall. The infant’s intestines, liver, or other organs stick outside of the belly through the belly button. The organs are covered in a thin, nearly transparent sac that hardly ever is open or broken. As the baby develops during weeks six through ten of pregnancy, the intestines get longer and push out from the belly into the umbilical cord. By the eleventh week of pregnancy, the intestines normally go back into the belly. If this does not happen, an omphalocele occurs. The omphalocele can be small, with only some of the intestines outside of the belly, or it can be large, with many organs outside of the belly. Because some or all of the abdominal (belly) organs are outside of the body, babies born with an omphalocele can have other problems. The abdominal cavity, the space in the body that holds these organs, might not grow to its normal size. Also, infection is a concern, especially if the sac around the organs is broken. Sometimes, an organ might become pinched or twisted, and loss of blood flow might damage the organ. The causes of omphalocele among most infants are unknown. Some babies have omphalocele because of a change in their genes or chromosomes. Omphalocele might also be caused by a combination of genes and other factors, such as the things the mother comes in contact with in the environment or what the mother eats or drinks, or certain medicines she uses during pregnancy.

(https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/omphalocele.html)

I never expected this as I have my regular check up and vitamins and milk. My doctor says might be a genetic defect. She said I need to prepare myself, emotionally, physically, spiritually and most importantly financially. I need to undergo cesarean section and due to this pandemic crisis, we find it more expensive than the usual. And my baby needs to be assess by a pedia surgeons and is needed to undergo series of operation and to be admitted in the pediatric ICU. Being hospitalized is costly, to even think about the exclusion of medicines and other factors is already a burden to us. Now my belly is as noble as my heart. I am living because of my baby. This life within me is a celebration of God's undying love. This time is hard, but we believe in hearts of the people around us. We believe that somewhere, someone is willing to help us.

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