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Wyatt's Story
"I was about 18 weeks pregnant when Wyatt's father and myself went in for the routine ultrasound..."
Up until this point I had no problems at all, I was expecting a normal in and out appointment with no worries. This is not what happened that day. The ultrasound tech noticed a white spot on Wyatt's bowel; he asked us if cystic fibrosis ran in either of our families and to this we replied no. We asked him what was wrong and he said he was not sure and would have our doctor call us as soon as she looked over everything. I remember driving home thinking, is my son ok? Did I do something wrong? So many things run through your mind when you are not sure of what is going on with your baby. I was thinking the worst, but praying for the best.
I heard back from my doctor the following day. She referred me to high-risk pregnancy doctor. We attended our appointment a week later. We met with a genetics counselor who went over both our families' history. Nothing out of the ordinary. That's when they ran the TORCH panel. I came back positive for CMV. It was a primary infection. I had never had CMV before.
I immediately got on my computer and researched CMV. I was shocked, how could I have never had this virus before. I went to daycare, have a huge family, and even babysat young children growing up. I was scared and upset reading how big of an impact this virus could have on a developing fetus, but I knew no matter what I would love him and care for him.
As my pregnancy continued I went to many more doctors' appointments. Amnio was offered but I declined. There was really nothing they could do if it did come back that he had CMV, and aborting was out of the question, I did not even want to hear it brought up. Most of the ultrasounds that I had showed that Wyatt was not growing like he should, his head size was small, and he had calcifications on his brain. The white spot on his bowel (echogenic bowel) disappeared and that was no longer a concern.
At 39 weeks, I was induced and on April 20, 2010, Wyatt Michael was born via C-section. He weighed 5 pounds 4 ounces, 18 3/4 long. He was perfect in our eyes. Wyatt spent 5 weeks in the NICU receiving ganciclovir to hopefully prevent any progression of hearing or vision loss. While in the NICU, Wyatt received several hearing tests and all of them came back inconclusive. His vision was good. Once he was released from the hospital and came home we immediately started ECI therapies, and setting up all of his doctor appointments.
He is now seeing a team of doctors, one of those in particular in Dr. Gail Demmler-Harrison and her nurse Carol Griesser. They are amazing and have helped us out so much. In addition, Wyatt has begun intensive physical therapy and will also be starting occupational therapy. Wyatt is now 10 months; he is profoundly deaf in both ears and will hopefully be receiving a bi-lateral cochlear implant. As far as development he is still not holding his head up, rolling over, crawling or sitting on his own. He has also been diagnosed with cerebral palsy.
Despite not being able to do those things he is one happy baby. He loves being tickled, and could live in a room full of ceiling fans as he loves to watch the fan go around and around. Wyatt may not be able to do all the things a normal child his age should, but he has his own special qualities and that is what makes him even more amazing.
CMV should be discussed with all women thinking about becoming pregnant or already pregnant. It is hard for me to understand why I was told so many times while I was pregnant to stay away from cats or cat litter boxes, when I should have been told to be careful around young kids and babies. I hope that one day, all women are aware of this virus and can hopefully prevent going through this during their pregnancy.
- Shared by his mother, Melanie