What is Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia?

Ryan was born with this defect that affects 1 in 2500 births

Your baby has a problem called "Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia"

or CDH.

Congenital means "born with" and a hernia is a

problem where something

goes through a

hole it is not supposed to.

The hole is in your baby's diaphragm.

The diaphragm is a muscle that helps us to breathe and keeps

the organs in the abdomen from

going into the chest cavity.

When your baby was very small (early in the pregnancy),

there was a hole in the diaphragm.

This is normal, but the hole usually closes by the end of the

third month of pregnancy.

In your baby's case, the hole stayed open.

This allowed some of the intestines to go into the chest cavity.

Since the intestines were in the chest cavity and not where they were

supposed to be, the

lungs could not grow in the normal space that they need

(they had to share the space with the intestines).

This means that the lungs are smaller than they should be.

The intestines can also push on the other lung and keep it from

growing fully and can

sometimes keep the heart from growing normally.

What is Anencephaly?

Jesse was born with this defect that affects 1 in 2000 births

Anencephaly is a disorder involving the incomplete development

of major parts or all of the brain.

Anencephaly is classified as a neural tube defect (NTD),

and that term refers to the incomplete development of

the brain, spinal cord, and/or their protective coverings.

The neural tube is a narrow sheath that is supposed to fold and

to close in the third or fourth weeks of pregnancy,

in order to form the brain and spinal cord of the embryo.

Anencephaly occurs when the anterior or cephalic head-end of this

neural tube fails to close, resulting in

the failure of major portions of brain, skull and scalp to form.

Infants with anencephaly are born without both a forebrain

(the front part of the brain)

and a cerebrum (

the thinking and coordinating part of the brain).

Often the remaining brain tissue may be exposed, or

without protective covering,

either bone or skin.

Anencephaly is characterized by the absence of the two

hemispheres of the brain.

The absent brain tissue

is sometimes replaced by a

 rudimentary brain stem made up of abnormal

cystic nerve tissue. Although reflex actions

such as breathing

and responses to touch or sound may occur, gaining