20 Week Ultrasound

We spent about 5 hours at the hospital today, and needless to say I am exhausted, so I will try and give you the shortest version of what we found out today. I was prepared for some bad news, but the results weren't exactly what I was expecting. To our surprise, his heart looks like it is functioning normally, may have a little murmur, but nothing severe. His brain is separated into a left and right, but there is nothing connecting the two, so he will not have normal brain function. His kidney's are enlarged as well. It does appear that our son won't look exactly like a normal baby either. They were unable to see any eyes, just the eye sockets. He has a severe cleft palate, and it looked like another hole in his face as well. He has six fingers on each hand and six toes on each feet. It breaks my heart that I will not be able to look into my son's eyes, or be able to breastfeed him. Right now it looks as if we will induce whenever it becomes medically necessary. If we choose to induce before 24 weeks it will not be covered under insurance, but anytime after that it will. It is very likely that Eli will not make it to term, and when I go into labor it will be induced, this could be anytime between 24-37 weeks. It looks like no matter when he is born, and if he can make it through labor, Eli will probably only live from a few mintues to maybe a couple of hours.I met with a neonatal intensive care specialist who put together a team of doctors and caregivers to help me from making a birth plan to planning the funeral. It is going to be a tough tough road ahead of us, and even though Eli is very sick and does not look normal, he is perfect in my eyes. Thank you for all of your prayers and support, we need them now more than ever.