The Beginning of our Journey into the world of Spina Bifida

On August 28, 2001 I received the ultrasound that changed our life. Before this ultrasound I loved being pregnant. I didn’t have morning sickness, my hair was curly and I was just having a grand old time. Well I went in for a routine non stress test because Jake really wasn’t moving around a lot – not that he moved around a lot before, but they just wanted to make sure he was ok.

The nurses at York Central Hospital figured while I was waiting for the Doc to come around to discuss my test, that they would send me down for an Ultrasound. During the test the technician started to make me nervous by asking all sorts of weird questions. After it was all over the tech came out to tell me that my child has a Myelomeningocele (Spina Bifida) and that my Dr would come talk to me soon. I called Jeff to tell him what was wrong and to meet me at the hospital. We were devastated and to make it all worse, my Doctor was too busy to talk to me and would call me in the morning.

We called my sister in law Sheila, who at the time was a nurse in the Urology department at Sick Kids. She was incredible and I will never be able to thank her enough for how much she helped us. She got us into the Special Pregnancy unit at Mt Sinai right away and basically just explained to us all she knew about Spina Bifida. The Dr’s and Nurses in the special pregnancy unit were amazing. They explained what the worse case scenario was for Jake and how they were going to help us with everything. They explained everything in plain English and made sure we understood everything.

Two weeks later on September 11, 2001 at Mt. Sinai, Jacob Rayment was born. He had surgery at Sick Kids to remove the bump on his back at 8:00 am the next morning. Dr Dirks was his neurosurgeon and did an awesome job. They explained that his diagnosis was a lot better than they originally thought. The nurses in the NICU and the Urology department were exceptional – well with the exception of the “Breast Police” (More on them later) We spent a week at the hospital and than they sent us home. That’s when the real fun started. Kid with Spina Bifida and mom slowly falling into Postpartum Depression – no wonder Jeff had a heart attack 2 years later!

More to come later, I got to go pick up Jesse from Joan’s house. Thanks Joan and Keira for taking him so I can get some work done. BTW, Joan was a godsend while I was off on Mat leave – and well pretty much ever since.