~*~ The Fetal Surgery ~*~

Before we could leave to Vanderbilt we were asked to have an Amnio done to check the baby's chromosomes.
Everything came back normal.
On March 24th we flew to Nashville
leaving our darling son, Ethan with my mother.
We were able to stay with some people we met through our church there.

March 25th and 26th we went through counseling from the staff that would be involved with the surgery.
We met both Doctors that would perform the surgery,
Dr. Bruner the OBGYN and Dr. Tulipan the Pediatric Neurosurgeon.

We then had the weekend to discuss and think about the surgery.
I think we had our minds changed every minute
but my heart knew what I wanted to do.

Monday morning we arrived at Vanderbilt University.
I was 24 weeks and 3 days pregnant.
We were #36 performed at Vanderbilt.
The surgery was great success.
They had taken out the Uterus,
exposed the baby's back through an incision
and tucked the spinal cord back into place.
I was put on medication to help prevent contractions and sent home 4 days later.

At home I had a lot of help from family and friends.
The time went by fast.
Nathan was there every second to take care of me.

On June 10th 1999 I went into labor and delivered Tessa by C - Section.
She came out kicking and screaming with what seemed to be full leg movement.
She was sent to the well baby nursery
and I was able to take her home the day after I was released from the hospital.

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