For most expecting parents, checkups at the doctor are filled with exciting moments like seeing their unborn baby for the first time and finding out if they’re having a boy or a girl.
For one Idaho couple, checkups at the doctor had always marked exciting milestones, but everything changed when they went in for a routine appointment at 23 weeks where they were scheduled to find out their baby’s sex. “We were going in for one of the happiest times of our lives and come out walking like we just heard the worst news we could’ve ever heard,” Ben Reidhead said.
While looking at the baby, doctors realized the baby’s brain was growing outside of his skull, and told Ben and Alyssa Reidhead the devastating news that their unborn son suffered from a rare condition called encephalocele.
“They just kept saying oh he’ll be born but he’ll only live for a couple minutes or if you go through labor, he’ll probably pass away during labor,” Alyssa said. Instead of planning a baby shower, the couple planned a funeral and began dreading the upcoming due date. “Almost scared of having the baby come not because we didn’t want him to come but just because we were afraid of losing him,” Ben said.
When it came time for delivery, however, baby Will miraculously survived and has been breathing well without any help. “He’s not hooked up to anything. He’s breathing fine. He’s lifting his head. He’s moving around. He’s pretty much acting like a completely normal baby,” Alyssa said.
The couple knows there’s a long, and uncertain road in front of them, as their son was diagnosed with an even rarer disease called cutis aplasia after doctors realized he was missing the back of his skull completely, but are overjoyed that their baby is doing so well.
“They’ve been consulting with a lot of other doctors and trying to figure out exactly what is the best option,” Ben said as his days-old son had already undergone one successful surgery.
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[Featured image credit: GoFundMe/Mindy Clark Reidhead]
Miracle Baby Survives After Being Born Without A Skull is an article from: LifeDaily