A Butterfly Is Born

About half-way through Melodie's pregnancy, Duke and Melodie received news that they never thought they would hear. "It appears that your daughter will be born with Spina Bifida." Melodie's doctor said at her 20-week ultrasound, where she also found out her baby was a girl. It was discovered that their daughter had this condition when they found a quarter-sized hole in her tail-bone. At the sound of those words, Duke and Melodie didn't know what to think. They sat there in front of the doctor in silence. "Also, it looks like your daughter has fluid on the brain." "What?" Duke and Melodie were beyond confused at this point. They were definitely not expecting this news. "The term for this is hydrocephalus. She will need to have a shunt inserted into her head immediately after she is born. She will have two surgeries close to each other. Your baby will need to transfer by ambulance to Children's Hospital so that they can treat her condition. If she doesn't get the shunt, she won't be able to survive for very long. Once she is born, you will notice her head is slightly bigger than it should be."