The beginning....

My name is Amanda Sprayberry.  I am married to my amazing husband, Thomas Sprayberry.  We are expecting our 1st child together, Landon Thomas Sprayberry.  His arrival is expected to be Feb. 3rd 2011.  I am 29 weeks and 3 days as of today.  I had been going to my routine doctors appointments and taking my vitamins.  Everything had been looking and sounding great.  Then at 23 weeks I had my ultrasound to make sure Landon's anatomy was looking good.  I thought everything was all good and went home and went about my day.  That next week I received a phone call from my doctor's office saying he wanted a second opinion about my ultrasound that was done the previous week.  He said it appeared that Landon's heart seemed to be pushed over to the side, but the heart looked normal.  He told me not to panic or stress because it could just be the way he was laying that day or something of that effect.  I tried to not let it get to me, but the fear that something may be wrong with your baby is just terrifying.  I couldn't get an appointment until November 5, 2010 (2 weeks after the phone call) to get the 2nd opinion.  So I tried to keep my mind off of it and stay busy and it worked for the most part.  
             I was less stressed by the day of the 2nd opinion thinking that it was just going to be the position or something he was laying in.  We got there and i had a 40-50 minute ultrasound with the tech and then she left to go discuss it with the doctor.  So my mother-in-law and I sat there for what seemed like forever waiting on the doctor to come in and let us know something.  Finally she came in and chatted for a few minutes then she did a scan also.  After she was finished looking too, she gave me the news that broke my heart.  She diagnosed Landon with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH).  I had never heard of this until she had told me this information.  I think I was in so much shock that I didn't know what to do, say, think, or feel.  The hole that Landon has seems to be more mid-line than left or right sided.  She told us that his stomach was moving up into his chest cavity causing his heart to shift out of place.  She said all other organs were looking to be developed hand where they were supposed to be.  We asked her the scary question of what was his chances of surviving with this birth defect and she told us 65% at this point.  But this could change.
         We scheduled another ultrasound for the 16th of November to confirm this diagnosis.  I hoped and prayed that they were wrong but she confirmed that it was true.  At this time baby Landon's stomach is all the way in his chest cavity.  She was very concerned.  She gave him a 50/50 chance of surviving after delivery/surgery.  This is all so overwhelming.  We have another ultrasound November 30th and speak with a neonatologist also.  We are praying for a miracle for my son.  I will update as often as i can about his condition.  My husband and I are asking everyone to say a little prayer for our son that he will be a fighter and come through this.