Melissa’s Story

Site created on April 11, 2018

We are due with our second child in September 2018. In early April, the baby was diagnosed with an omphalocele (O).  This is a rare birth defect in which the abdominal wall doesn’t close and the intestines and possibly other organs develop outside of the abdomen in a sac. This website will be maintained so our family and friends can follow our journey as we welcome our baby into the world, and what happens after. 


Papa John set up a GoFundMe account to help us while we take additional time off work and bear increased medical expenses.  Thank you in advance to those who offer financial support, as well as those who offer emotional support as well.  We appreciate everything that everyone's doing for us!


https://www.gofundme.com/melissa-and-joey-gomes-baby-care 

Newest Update

Journal entry by Melissa Gomes

I've had a few appointments since the last time I've updated.  My health is still looking great with no high blood pressure, not a lot of weight gain, and I've been feeling great.  Baby girl has been moving a lot lately too.  I had my regular OB checkup last Friday, and the baby's heart rate was up a little bit.  My doctor is a little cautious so I ended up hooked up to the fetal heart monitor for a non-stress test.  We listened to her heart for 20 minutes, and everything was looking good.  Her heart rate increased as she moved, which is perfectly normal.  Good news there.

I had an ultrasound this morning to check the baby's growth, as well as to check the omphalocele ratio.  Growth is looking good, no changes in the size of the omphalocele (it's growing at the same rate the baby is growing), and she's doing practice breathing like she should be.  In the words of the perinatologist, everything is looking "boring".  We'll take boring over anything else.

We've scheduled a c-section for September 5th.  Unless something drastically changes, Audrey Ryann will be here that day <3  Harper's totally on board with the name and has started calling her little sister Audrey. I love that little one so much and can't wait to see how good she is at being a big sister. 

In a few weeks, I'll have appointments every week to check the baby through a biophysical profile.  If nothing else changes, then nothing changes in the plan we discussed a few weeks ago with surgery.  Just over two months left, and I'm feeling more and more prepared for this little one's arrival every day.  Thank you to everyone for all your support so far.  We love you all!
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