Violet Lorraine Hendrixson Violet Lorraine

Hudson and I found out that we were pregnant the beginning of September of 2016.  We are young parents only beginning our 20's so the news of being pregnant was both exciting and slightly scary.  Sometime in December  We found out that Violet was diagnosed with Spina Bifida. Spina Bifida is a birth defect in which a developing baby's spinal cord fails to develop properly. At first I was told by my OBGYN that this could be nothing and not to worry. Two high blood tests results later and I was on my way to see a specialist. I was 19 weeks when we saw the specialist. During the ultra sound he pointed out the "bubble" on her spine and explained to us what spina bifida is, the severity of her diagnosis and where we can go from there. He told us about CHOP (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia) and had sent a referral out that day, a couple hours later I received a call from CHOP's to schedule an appointment and inform me about fetal surgery for spina bifida. No matter what the risks were I was set on having the surgery if I was a candidate.  January 4th and 5th were the days of my consult. Both days consisted of tests and information about spina bifida. After the hour and a half ultra sound at CHOP's we find out that Violet is paralyzed from the knees down, has severe club foot, swelling in her brain and would probably need a shunt in the future. The Dr's went more in detail of what could happen if I don't go through surgery and the possible outcomes if I do go through surgery. However Dr's said that surgery would not "fix" her paralyzation but could prevent it from getting worse. I was a candidate for surgery and January 9th at 6 am was surgery day. Only 3 days to process the news, pack, and figure out what was to come next. Being only 20 and Violet my first child this was a lot to take into consideration. However I went through with the surgery  and I wouldn't have it any other way.