Piper's Story

A quick re-cap of who Piper is and why I frequently tell her she's tough as nails.

December 21st we found out at our 20 week ultrasound that our baby girl had spina bifida. Her spine had not closed when it formed. Her brain was being pulled down her spine (called a chairi malformation) and she was most likely leaking spinal fluid. An amniocentesis test confirmed this. We were given three options by our doctor: abort the pregnancy, have surgery in utero or wait until she was born to have surgery to close her spine.

We decided to have in utero surgery, and on Feb 12th, 2013, our unborn child had surgery on her back (through me, I would like it noted) at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). By no small miracle I was able to return home to wait out the rest of my pregnancy in a hospital close to Casey.

March 30, 2013: Meeting Piper for the first time.

Piper being transported to Denver via ambulance. I cried more than she did.

At 30 weeks, Piper was born during an emergency c-section. She was transferred to Denver for evaluation by a team of specialists, and a month later she was able to return to a hosptial closer to us.

After 57 days in the NICU, Piper came home and for the first time we were a family living together. And the adventure hasn't stopped since. And that is why I tell Piper she is as tough as nails.

(And sometimes I throw in, "You get that from your mom.")