Say a little prayer

Just in case some of you don't already know, my brother Kendall and his wife Shelly are expecting their third child. They found out a couple of weeks ago that their unborn daughter has a myelomeningocele, meaning that she will be born with spina bifida. They've been through a whirlwind of tests and doctor appointments, trying to figure out how best they can help her. You can read about their journey so far at their blog here, but I'll summarize the latest.

They just found out yesterday that Shelly has qualified to participate in MOMS (Management of Myelomeningocele Study), which means that this Sunday, they will fly to San Francisco. Doctors at UCSF will perform tests on Monday and Tuesday, and then on Wednesday, they will be put in one of two groups: pre-natal or post-natal surgery.

If they are in the pre-natal group, Shelly will have surgery the very next day, where doctors will do all they can to close the lesion on the baby's back, then keep Shelly in SF until she would deliver by C-section around 37 weeks (she's around 22 or so now, I think). If they are in the post-natal group, they will go back to Houston and Shelly will deliver by C-section at 37 weeks, whereupon surgery will be performed as soon as the baby is born to close the lesion. The advantage to being in the pre-natal surgery group is that there is a high risk of the baby developing hydrocephalus in later pregnancy, and the surgery may help decrease that risk. (I hope I got all that right!)

Basically, they just really need prayers right now. If Shelly has the pre-natal surgery, she'll be away from her kids for three months, so that makes it even harder--but this surgery could really help their unborn daughter, so we hope it's worth it. Please say a little prayer for Shelly, Kendall, and their daughter. They could use all your prayers and faith right now. Thanks.