meeting with the neurosurgeon

Today has been a CRAZY day! We left the house at 11am to go to the hospital to get a power of attorney notarized but of course, they are only open from 1300-1500 so we went to North Island because Benjamin was on the hit list for a flu shot so we had to get that taken care of. Then we went to our budgeting for baby class on the other base which was pretty useful, especially since we got "baby's first sea bag" full of free baby stuff :) There was a blanket, two crib sheets, burp clothes, hooded towel and wash cloth and some clothes. We also got a hand knitted blanket that volunteers at the Navy-Marine Corp Relief made so that was nice. Now we have all this baby stuff coming and no nursery to put it in, definitely halting my nesting. Well, now on to the part everyone is really curious about. We finally got to meet our neurosurgeon! His name is Dr. Arnett Klugh III and he is absolutely wonderful :) He said he's operated on about 2 or 3 encephalocele cases in his career and all have been successful. He trained at Stanford University and worked closely with "an amazing pediatric surgeon." Here is a little more on him for those who are curious We went over the MRI results and he said they look a lot better than what he had anticipated from what he had heard from the doctor. He is very positive and hopeful, which is highly refreshing. He said he is happy to see that the cerebellum and brain stem are not involved, the encephalocele itself has gotten bigger but it is all fluid, no more brain has hemorrhaged out and the little amount that is in there looks like it will really only affect vision because of the area the cele is located. Because she will be having surgery as a baby it is very possible that the parts of the brain that will be missing will regenerate it just may not work as well. The more we work with her as a baby and stimulate her the better chance she will have at no to low developmental delay, so we will definitely be doing that! We went on to talk about the surgery and how it will go and what to expect afterward. The C-section is scheduled for March 22, she will have the normal procedure of newborn tests done as well as an MRI then surgery March 24. He will tie off the encephalocele at the base to ensure a water tight closure then clip it off at the base above the tie, place a dissolvable plate (it will dissolve after 9 weeks) sew it up with gortex thread and the healing process will begin :) He said there is no sign of hydrocephalus so a shunt will not be needed at the time of the first surgery and will keep a close eye on it afterward to make sure one will not be needed later. He doesn't see her needing to stay in the hospital more than a week if all goes well with the surgery. They will do a ultrasound every other day and monitor her closely until they feel she is okay to leave. I feel a million times better now that we've met him and know what will happen with Naysa. I think I covered just about everything that happened, if you have questions please feel free to ask and it might trigger and "oh yeah!" :) Thank you for all of the love and prayers!