Gracyn's Hand

It dawned on me that a lot of people have no clue about her hand and what is happening/has happened with all of that.

Dave and I did a 3D u/s in May at 29 weeks for fun and during the scan that discovered that Gracyn's left hand is not formed all of the way. We went to a perinatologist and they confirmed that it is in fact not formed. From her shoulder to her wrist (about), she is fine. From her wrist on is malformed. She has a palm, but her fingers are not fully developed. There are five nubs, for lack of a better word. They don't know exactly what it will look like and what all we are working with until she gets here.

The high risk doctor referred us to a hand surgeon at Children's, Dr. Popp, and we have already met with his Nurse Practitioner. They are amazing and so optimistic! They want to see her 4-6 weeks after delivery and will develop a plan of action for her from there. He is known for maximal functionality with as much aesthetic appeal as possible. They, as well as the perinatologist, are confident that nothing else is wrong with her. They scanned her thoroughly and didn't discover any other abnormalities, or what they call packaging. She is classified as non-syndromic. Thank g-d.

Having reviewed her u/s from the perinatologist, her hand surgeon is pretty sure (if not, then it is vascular and there is a plan of action for that as well) that it was caused by Amniotic Band Syndrome (ABS). He believes this because she doesn't show any other issues. Here is a decent link on ABS: http://hsc.usf.edu/medicine/obgyn/fetalmd/amnioticband.htm

Here is what we know for sure right now: she has a great left arm, some left wrist malformation, a palm (with limited bone structure, but bone can grow until she is two), five digits that did not form fully, she'll be in Occupational Therapy (OT) until she's at least 15, she'll be able to crawl/tie her shoes/etc. and lead a completely normal life.

There. Now everyone knows and there isn't the appearance of shame which is good because there isn't any. We have come to grips with it and are dealing well. We are grateful to have her in our lives and believe that we will better for having had, and known, her. We are thankful that she is ours and not one of our students kids who wouldn't necessarily have the means to provide her the care she'll need both financially and emotionally. You know, we figure that G-d was handing out fetuses in November and had one that needed extra attention so he gave her to us. There are no victims in our house. That is the hand that G-d gave her and, for lack of a better expression, that hand that we've been dealt.

What can I say, imperfections let G-d's light shine through.