Faith Keeps Family Going During Difficult Circumstances

Kyle Family Gives Birth to Baby with Rare Condition

September 24, 2009

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Kyle, Texas – Kyle residents, Bridget and Mike Wildschuetz, welcomed their new baby girl into this world on September 10, 2009. Faith was born with severe bilateral microphthalmia, a congenital malformation resulting in minimal eye development. Faith also has very small sinuses and is having difficulty getting enough oxygen on her own.

Bridget Wildschuetz, 31, keeps family and friends updated with Facebook updates and blog posts. Friends set up a website (www.superbabyfaith.com) so that they can communicate Faith’s progress to an even wider audience. A benefit fund has also been set up at Wells Fargo Bank for the family and donations can be submitted via the website or at any Wells Fargo Bank location.

Doctors are watching Faith closely and cannot predict when she might be released from the hospital.

“Right now she is on oxygen and the doctors want to make sure she is healthy enough to come home,” stated Wildschuetz, “We are praying every day that she gets stronger and is able to come home soon.”

According to the International Children’s Anophthalmia/Microphthalmia Network’s website:

• anophthalmia is a medical term that is used to describe the absence of the globe and ocular (eye) tissue from the orbit;

• the terms Anophthalmia and Microphthalmia (A/M) (small eyes) are often used interchangeably since CT scans or MRI show some remnants of either the globe or surrounding tissue in most cases;

• anophthalmia/Microphthalmia (A/M) may affect one eye with the other eye being normal, or both eyes, resulting in blindness;

• A/M is rare, but the exact incidence is unknown;

• one report from a prospective study of 50,000 newborns found an incidence of microphthalmia of 0.22 per 1,000 live births; and

• in a recent study in England, the prevalence of anophthalmia and microphthalmia was 1.0 per 10,000 births.

For more information about this condition, visit www.anophthalmia.org.

About the Wildschuetz Family

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Originally from St. Louis, the Wildschuetz have no family in the Austin area. They moved to Kyle two years ago because Mike, a mining engineer, was offered a job as a supervisor at a local rock quarry. Sadly, Mike was laid off in October 2008 due to the sluggish economy. He is now working, but, like many people in Central Texas, he has been unable to find a job in his industry. Before giving birth, Bridget worked as a health and physical education teacher for Manor ISD. She is currently on maternity leave. Bridget keeps a positive attitude about her daughter’s prognosis and tells friends, “We have to just keep the faith.” For more information or to make a donation into faith’s benefit fund, visit www.superbabyfaith.com.