How can I not worry...

Before we left the hospital, the pediatrician came in to examine the baby. He looked good and was healthy. Then she turned him around and looked at his back. I noticed her notice something. She took a closer look and then I started to get concerned. She finally told me what she was looking at. There was small hole right at the start of his little bummy crack. She told me it was called a sacral dimple and that I shouldn't worry at this point. How could I not worry?

I looked it up online and was really nervous. It could be a sign of spina bifida. It could mean that the neural tube or spine had not completely finished forming. It could lead to problems in the future, including bladder problems, mobility problems, and other things that I didn't want to think about.

At his first appointment, the doctor again looked at the dimple and couldn't see the bottom of it to see if it was open or completely closed. She told me to have an ultrasound done of his back so we would know if there were issues or not.

A couple of weeks later, my husband and I took our new little boy to Women and Children's Hospital. I had never been to this hospital and was amazed at how child friendly the atmosphere was. There were murals on the walls, child centers with books and play things. It was wonderful. And then I saw a child who had lost her hair and then realized that the children who come to this hospital are really sick. I was terrified that something would be wrong with my son and that I would become a regular at this facility.

We waited for a while before they took us back to a tiny, dark room. We undressed the baby down to his diaper and laid him on his belly. He was cooperating better than I expected. The ultrasound technician came in and did the "procedure". It took a couple of minutes and she left the room. About 10 minutes later, she came back and said that the doctor had looked at the results and found that the hole was closed and there shouldn't be any problems. I was relieved. But I couldn't stop thinking about that little girl. I still think of her and am grateful that we have such a state of the art hospital right in the area to help children like her.