A SUMMARY OF OAKLEY'S STORY
In August of 2020, at my anatomy scan for my first pregnancy, we got the news that there were multiple anomalies with our baby boy. We were told that he had a giant omphalocele with multiple organs on the outside, he had a missing left leg, scoliosis, club foot, a heart defect, short femur on his right leg, and down syndrome. We were devastated hearing this news. The doctors gave us a less than 2% chance of survival for Oakley and constantly gave us the option to terminate the pregnancy because that would be better for the baby than to bring him into this world. We were told that even if we went through with the pregnancy, Oakley would only survive for minutes, maybe hours.
It was such a difficult time and we did not know what to do. With the help of prayer, we took it day by day relying on Gods faithfulness through this hard time, even if it was only to meet him for a few minutes. During the next couple months we were told if i went through with the pregnancy there could be complications that could be life threatening to me, that all other women diagnosed with LBWC had aborted. I scheduled a C-section for December 29, 2020 at 8:00 AM. The surgery was taking place in London Ontario children's hospital. We were so scared going into that hospital the morning of. We were told to prepare for funeral.
On December 29, 2020, at 8:37 AM, baby Oakley was brought into this world, weighing 5lb 12oz. Oakley did have an omphalocele containing only the liver, his left leg is completely missing, he has minor scoliosis, hernia, organs switched to opposite sides in his stomach, a short femur and club foot on his right leg. After running multiple tests, the doctors cleared his heart defect, turns out his heart is completely normal. We also did genetic testing and everything came back negative for down syndrome.
Oakley was in the NICU for 3 and a half weeks. Me and my husband were staying at the Ronald McDonald house during this time. All employees at the RMDH were outstanding and supportive through our entire stay. Due to Covid, we had to take turns going to see Oakley and we could each only go in once in a 24 hour period.
Oakley was diagnosed with Limb Body Wall Complex. This type of diagnosis is considered incompatible with life. Oakley was such a fighter and with the help of all the prayers and the doctors, Oakley beat the 2% chance that he had and is doing so good! He is such a beautiful little boy, he is our Miracle Baby!
Big thank you to Dr.Robert Gratton and the whole NICU team at London Health Science Center Childrens Hospital.
they all played a very big part in making the situtation we were in much easier!