My wife and I always wanted to have a family. So, about a year after we were married, we decided to start trying to have a child. My wife became pregnant with our first child after several months of trying. Everything was going well with her Dr.'s visits up until the 20 week visit. The 20 week visit is usually the visit that everyone does or does not find out the sex of the child. My wife and I were divided on whether we should or should not find out the sex of our child. The technician doing the ultrasound  asked us if we wanted to know. We were not sure. The technician stated that she needed to know the sex because she found an "issue". We then agreed, found out we were having a boy, and that there was an issue with his kidney. The Ob-Gyn then sent us to a Perinatalogist.. The Perinatalogist said that Zach had a "blockage" in his kidney and that it was backing up into the kidney. The back up was making the kidney expand and experience some damage. We then started to see the Perinatalogist on a frequent basis up until the birth of our son..

    At about 28 weeks, we found out more news about the health of our son. The Perinatalogist stated that there was some issue with Zach's brain. Originally, we thought that he had "water on the brain" which would need a stint to drain the fluid and/or cause Epilepsy. This was devasting news to us and it just seemed like our first try at having a child was going "down hill" and fast. We eventually found out that it wasn't water on the brain, but areas of missing "white matter". We are still not sure why those areas did not form. The Dr. stated that those missing areas would create developmental delays, but that they could not tell is what they would be. They just stated that Zach would have to just grow up and they would have to come out. Some of the Dr.'s felt like the "worst case scenario" would be that Zach would develop Cerebral Palsy. We also found out that Zach only had one kidney and that kidney had the previously mentioned "blockage".

We got to the birth and our beautiful son was born. The Prune Belly was a shock to us. No one knew that he would have the PBS and there was no way that anyone could have seen it coming. Our son was born, taken to the NICU at the hopsital where my wife had her C-section. The next day he was transported up to the Children's hopsital (Scottish Rite) in North Atlanta. Zach spent 10 days in the NICU where we had 9 specialists at one point. The geneticist did her testing and she found no genetic abnormalities to cause the PBS. As she stated it, "I am sorry, but you just happen to be the 1 in 40,000. I have found not genetic reason for the PBS". All of the Dr.'s were phenominal, but it was all overwhelming especially since this was our first child. After the 10 days, we finally got our son home and were thrilled. 

    Currently, our son has been through a lot since the birth/hospital. He was diagnosed with torticollis which was worked out with Physical Therapy. He was prescribed a helmet to help shape his head to correct the flat spots. He now has full body Physical Therapy to help with his delays. He now has Occupational Therpay twice a week for nine months to help with sensory issues. He will need a "walker" per the PT to help him walk. He has had two sugeries to descend his testicles and will need two more. He has has numerous MRI's per his Neurologist and Urologist. Even with all of that, Zach is our little fighter and we love him to death. All of this has happened in Zach's first year of life since he just turned 1 on Dec. 4. That is our story and we are sticking to it.