Tiny Miracles

Sometimes, I'm completely overwhelmed with the understanding of what a miracle Lily is. It hits me unexpectedly, catches me completely off guard. 

Right now, after the 2 am feeding, I'm watching Lily drift to sleep. Her warm little body is snuggled against me, and as I rock, and stroke her fuzzy head, she makes involuntary facial expressions, first forming her mouth into a perfect little o and fluttering her eyelids, then smiling. She's very, very much alive. This is the same child I prayed for, begged God to allow me to meet. This is the very same child whose heartbeat I feared not hearing week after week at the Dr's office. This tiny person, who's breath I can feel on my skin, is the same being I watched take shape in the ultrasound pictures over nine months.  Her little head rests in the crook of my arm, and I can feel that the back of her neck is smooth; there is no tumor, no hygroma, just loose skin to remind me of what was once there. 

Sometimes, I'm caught up in the everyday drama of childbirth recovery, territorial toddler tantrums, sleepless nights, and spit-up.  Every once in a while, though, my heart is completely open and I can fully see the magnitude of what God has done. It leaves me breathless. 

What if we could see what God has done this Christmas?  What if we could intimately know the miracle of Jesus' conception and birth?  How would it change us to fully recognize He came to die for us?  Are our hearts open enough to let it take our breaths away?  Overwhelm us?  Or are we too caught up in the everyday drama of shopping and wrapping and holiday parties ?  

I pray, this Christmas season, that all the people I love get glimpses of miracles, particularly ones involving little babies. 

Lily's Arrival

Lily arrived Friday, November 18th at 7:03 am, weighing 7 lbs, 3 oz. 
Her c-section was scheduled for 7:30 am Friday, and I was pretty anxious (see previous blog post). I was able to go to sleep at about 11, but woke up again at 1 am feeling strange.  Thinking it was just anxious butterflies in my tummy, I went back to sleep. Those were no butterflies. At 3 am, I was awakened by close to the worst pain I've ever felt. There was no doubting it was a contraction, and not one of the annoying ones I'd been having for the last month.  Poor Mario (way too many stories start with those two words lately) woke to me screaming I was in labor.  I think we were dressed and in the car with mostly packed bags within 5 minutes. He made the usually 40 minute drive to the hospital in 25.  I called the Dr on the way there, so the nurses were waiting for us and confirmed we were in fact in active labor. Lily did not want to show up on our schedule or do things anyone's way but her own. I wonder if this is any kind of forecast for the future. 

The delivery went beautifully. No problems, minimal pain, and most importantly, lots of loud cries that brought tears of joy to our eyes.  Neonatology took Lily for all of 30 minutes before declaring her healthy.  That's right.  perfectly healthy!  Lily even came out hungry and knowing just what to do to eat right after being born!  

I had a rough, rough recovery with Avery, so was prepared for the same with Lily. I kept waiting for the pain and crying to set in, but they never really came. We spent three days in the hospital enjoying Lily and introducing her to Katie and Avery when they came to visit.  Avery didn't like her very much, but at 21 months, this wasn't a huge surprise.  She yelled "Mommy, no!  No baby! Bye bye," and tried to push Lily out of my arms. This relationship may take a little time and work. 

On the fourth day after Lily was born, we packed up our things and headed home. We were so excited picking up Avery from our friend's house, but I started to feel strange on the final stretch home. My head started hurting, I was dizzy, and I had flashing lights in front of my eyes. Unfortunately, I was familiar with this set of symptoms from when we had Avery. We, along with my doctors, has been carefully watching for them for months. Sure enough, I took my blood pressure when we got in and it was 180/123. Not. Good. I tried lying down for a half hour. Wishful thinking. We called the doctor, who ordered us right back to the hospital stat. Mario and I were both terrified. We called friends who met us on our way to the hospital and took poor, confused Avery home with them. 
We were admitted to the hospital, where I gave a ridiculous amount of blood and in return, received an equally obscene number of pills. I had an MRI to make sure the preeclampsia had not done any damage to my brain. Thankfully, it had not.  By late afternoon the following day, my blood pressure was finally down if I stayed quiet and still, but we still didn't get to go home. We both missed Avery terribly and had had enough hospital to last us the rest of our lives. Oh how we prayed to be able to take Lily home. 

Thanksgiving morning brought answered prayers. My doctor came in and released us.  We picked up Avery again, and got home just in time to meet friends who came to our door with a full Thanksgiving dinner. Thank you Smiths!  

Overnight, I started to feel badly again, and my blood pressure shot up higher than we had ever seen it. Friday morning brought Dr's orders to return to the hospital, be admitted to icu, and start treatment with magnesium sulfate, which is reportedly a tortuous experience.  We called out the troops to pray this time before we tearfully climbed in the car and waved good-bye to Avery.  God answered, big time. First, there was no room in icu, so we were sent to antepartum instead, where I was allowed to keep, and continue to feed Lily. Then, my labs came back better than expected and the dreaded magnesium  sulfate was indefinitely postponed. 

We are still in the hospital, but doing much, much better. We will be here until I look stable for at least 24 hours, but Avery and Katie are safe and happy, Lily is healthy, and I am well cared for. 

We've been warned we may have a rough several weeks or even months ahead getting me back to normal, but this thanksgiving holiday,  I am still so, so thankful. I'm thankful for the Comerfords and the Shanks for loving on our sweet Avery when we couldn't, and for the Voricks for letting Katie be part of their family at their farm for Thanksgiving week.   I'm thankful for my husband, who has 
stayed by my side for well over half a decade and walked so closely through the last weeks and months with me. I'm thankful for doctors who have been part of allowing us the privilege of meeting and parenting Lily. I'm thankful for support from family, and I'm thankful for the opportunity to chronicle this journey here and experience all the love, acceptance, and prayers I've received from you who read it. Most of all, I'm thankful for Jesus, to whom we have prayed so fervently over the last 9 months. Without knowing Him, and being able to trust, albeit imperfectly, that He is in control, there would not have been any joy in this journey. 

 I will post when we are safely home, but after that, I may take a little  break from blogging and invest the time in mothering and getting well.  Please continue to remember us in your prayers as we try to heal and adjust.

I hope each of you had a holiday as rich  in thanksgiving as ours.  

Uncomfortable

I am trying to cement in my mind that tomorrow will be the climax of the amazing testimony of Lily's life, and I'm struggling. I'm vacillating  between confidently knowing The Gracious God Who Loves Us is in ultimate control, and panicking at all the possible outcomes. I've shed more than a few anxious, scared tears today. I suppose that's pretty normal, if there is a normal for this situation. 

In the event that you've not followed the blog from the beginning, here's a very condensed recap:  Lily was found to have a large cystic hygroma and fetal hydrops at 11 weeks gestation.  She was given a 1 in 3000 chance of surviving even to birth. She has completely defied all the odds. Her hygroma shrunk and her hydrops resolved. She has no detectable chromosomal abnormalities and looks great on ultrasound. I give God all the glory for these miracles and am so thankful for all who have prayed for Lily. 

 Our physicians have told us repeatedly that not everything is visible on ultrasound, and there are many things we won't know until Lily arrives. Tomorrow, we will know. When we first were told there were problems, I struggled with not knowing, not being in control. I learned, over a long stretch of time, to surrender this worry to God, and I found joy in Him and His creation of Lily's life in my womb.  We've celebrated her life every step of the way.  I've grown past worrying about not knowing. 

 Now, tonight, I'm terrified about knowing.  I sort of would rather go on not knowing. I'm comfortable here. But I know God doesn't call us to a life of comfort. I'm learning this in this situation and several others. There's no change or growth in comfort.   What  amazing testimonies of who God is have you heard from people who have always been comfortable?  What men and women of faith do you remember from the Bible being comfortable?  I'm pretty convinced that to really experience God moving in my life, I have to be at least willing to be intensely uncomfortable.   

When you pray for us tonight, and early tomorrow when Lily comes out to meet us, please do pray she is strong and healthy and untainted by any of her earlier problems. Please do pray for my health and safety. Don't linger too long, though, praying for our comfort. Pray instead that God is glorified in whatever happens, and that we have the strength of faith to embrace Him in whatever circumstance awaits us. 

Almost Time!

I've not posted in a while because there has really not been any news to impart, but actually, not having anything to say IS news!  Lily is still tucked away at almost 39 weeks, and we've not been back to the hospital in two weeks.  I hope to stay away till Lily's scheduled arrival this Friday morning. I've followed orders and stayed on rest (lounging on the couch and not going anywhere) every day, and it has slowed the contractions and kept my blood pressure at least out of the danger zone. Most weekdays, Mario has gone to work, Avery has spent at least part of the day with our sitter, Katie has  been at school and riding, and I have watched a lot of HGTV.  I didn't think anyone would be interested in g what I learned from Design on a Dime or Candice Tells All.   The shows did  inspire some serious nesting, so my poor, sweet, ever-accommodating husband has painted, organized, assembled, labeled, and cleaned for hours and without a word of complaint.  His biggest accomplishment was re-upholstering my grandmother's bench, which was covered in purple flame stitch fabric. It's hanging out inside the front door now, sporting a very current beige, chocolate, and blue/green suzani  pattern.  I'm pretty proud of this project, because the cost was less than $10. 

My good friend Jenn asked yesterday how I was feeling. My response was "puffy, anxious, hopeful, excited, nervous, tired, and thankful.".  Probably more than she bargained for, but I was her roommate long ago, so she knows my  annoying tendency toward hyper-verbose descriptions of feelings. No one will ever catch me saying "fine," which is NOT a feeling. 
Most of my remaining anxiety is about the actual c-section. I hate hospitals, needles, beeping noises, bright lights, and drugs.  More on the history of that another time.  I have a combination of peace and excitement about meeting Lily. Even the Dr's constant reminders that something may still be very wrong haven't phased me lately. I KNOW God has a plan for Lily. He tells me so every time she kicks, when she gets the hiccups in my belly, and each week when I hear her sweet heartbeat. This week, we got one final 3-D peek of her curled up inside me. She has huge, chunky cheeks and is almost 8 lbs!  In one picture, she was winking at us, one eye open and one shut. She almost looked mischievous.  
Please pray for Lily and me, and for the doctors at St Luke's and TX Children's this Friday morning.  We have so much to be thankful for this season, including your faithful prayers for us. 

No Baby

We thought we were having a baby yesterday. We told everyone she was coming, repacked bags for each family member, made arrangements for Katie and for Avery, called family to tell them when to come, froze the meat in the fridge, and cancelled anything that was planned for the rest of the week. All indications at the OB’s office on Monday morning were that I had preeclampsia, and Lily needed to be delivered pretty quickly. We prayed, and worked really hard to wrap our brains around Lily coming yesterday. I felt pretty prepared and really had a peace about her arrival. It didn’t happen.


We checked in to the hospital, as instructed, at 8:45 After I was on the monitor, in a gown, with an IV, my last lab test came back. It was very unexpectedly normal. Last year, this would not have mattered. This year, there are strict guidelines in place for OBs about when they can and can’t deliver a baby. Very specific criteria have to be met to deliver a baby before 39 weeks, and that one test was part of the criteria.

While all the medical folks were chatting about what to do with me, I started having contractions again on the monitor – every 2-3 minutes. “Looks like you are going in to labor on your own!” they said. “You can’t go home like that, so we are just going to keep you here and see what you do.” Hours later – no labor. Just loads of preterm contractions. By about 7 pm, my OB, the high risk OB, and the high risk OB’s nurse all showed up to stare at me and talk about what to do. The high risk OB won, and we were put BACK on contraction slowing meds, and told we could go home if Lily and I did OK on overnight monitoring. I thanked them for their watchful and attentive care, nodded, and waved as the forum walked out the door. Then, I had a meltdown. A two year old, irrational, snot dripping, whiney, unlady-like, and very, very therapeutic meltdown. It went something like this:

Me: I hate it here. It’s hot. This bed is awful. I want my own bed! I hate being connected to all these wires and tubes! I miss Avery. I HATE hospitals! I hate needles! I feel this needle in my arm and it’s stupid that I have to have it when we aren’t having a baby. It’s stupid that I have to be here at all! I want to go home!

Mario: Do you want me to see if they could bring you a fan, sweetie?

Me: I hate fans! They dry out my contacts and make my skin itch. I am gross. I am huge, and puffy, and sweaty, and dirty, and gross, and I want to go home. I can’t have a baby. What was I thinking? I can’t deal with the pain. I’m a wimp. Wimps shouldn’t be allowed to have babies………..

Poor Mario

I did eventually calm down. I talked to the nurse, who had heard the same tirade, verbatim, about 15,000 times and brought me a fan and some Tylenol. I prayed. Mario prayed, and quit speaking since he wasn’t making much headway. I think we slept a combined total of 4 hours.

My OB came in at 7 am and told us to go home. As long as my pressure stays down, I am off of bed rest, and just on “rest.” She advised us to go out for dinner tonight. It’s actually my birthday.

Though it’s driving both Mario and I nuts to be on this rollercoaster, we know that we are not the first riders. We also know that God knows better than anyone else when Lily should come. Feel free to keep reminding me of this when I start to forget and think that I know best.

I’m so sorry we got everyone excited that she was coming yesterday- again. The outpouring of support was so sweet. We are so, so blessed to have the friends and family we do. I can’t wait for everyone to meet Lily and Lily to experience all the love that is waiting to be shown her. I will definitely keep you posted about how GOD’s plan for her birth unfolds.

Happy Halloween!

Despite being nervous about Lily coming tomorrow, and feeling a little icky with preeclampsia, we had such a great night.  Our sweet neighbors invited us to come over with the rest of the block and eat hot dogs and chili.  After dinner, the husbands took the children trick-or-treating, and the wives sat at the end of the cul-de-sac passing out candy and chatting.  We love, love, love our street and our neighbors.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Tomorrow?

We very likely will meet Lily tomorrow!  We went to the OB this morning, and I am SO glad that she and my high risk doc are back in town.  I made it through the whole week without them last week, but started not feeling right yesterday.  My blood pressure started going up, I was seeing spots, and I looked puffier than I ever remember looking pregnant.  My OB saw me and said  I either already have preeclampsia or it is setting in and ordered a test that takes 24 hours to assess how bad it is.  We talked her into letting us go home for the time being, and check in to the hospital tomorrow morning unless things take a turn for the worse.  I so wanted to see Avery in her costume.  I am seeming to get worse, but not bad enough yet to warrant going in. 

My OB told us it is very, very likely Lily is coming tomorrow.  She took me off all of the contraction stopping meds, and also, they won't let me try to carry her longer with preeclampsia.  It's just too risky.  We are praying we make it through the night.  I'm anxious and excited.  Lily is still about a half week shy of full term, but we got a lot further than we did with Avery and the preeclampsia I had with her.  I pray Lily arrives truly having defied all the odds - completely without any defect - internal or external.  Please pray with us for this.

Documenting

In late September, we had some really special photos taken.  We had settled into the house, finished all the renovations our budget would allow (plus some unexpected ones), and generally calmed down.  This left me lots of time and mental space to think about Lily coming.  Everything was looking fabulous on her ultrasounds, and I know God is capable of delivering to us a perfectly healthy baby despite all the early indications that she is very sick, but I felt a need to do some preparing.  I wanted to be sure that no matter what the outcome of her birth, we had documentation of her life inside me and the joy she has brought us. 

Our good friend, Veronica, who works at Early Childhood Intervention, and has been Avery’s developmental specialist since birth, put us in touch with an amazing woman.  Jennifer Maler (Red Balloon Photography) gladly took on the task of documenting Lily’s life and did so with compassion, sympathy, and an incredible ability to capture emotion.  She also realized, more than I did, the need to include Mario and Avery in many of these photos rather than just take shots of my humungous tummy.  She even snuck in a few candid pictures of Avery that are now some of our favorite photos.  I regret that we didn’t have Katie with us so she could be in them too. 

I’m still at home on modified bed rest, and so thankful to have made it almost another full week with Lily tucked safely inside.  My Dr. will be back Sunday and I see her Monday morning.  The plan is that she will be taking me off all my contraction stopping meds, and as soon as Lily tells us it’s time, we will let her come on out via c-section.  Monday is Halloween, and Wednesday is my birthday, so Tuesday would be nice, but we would be happy to meet her any day of the week.  I hope and pray that we will soon be sharing tons of new baby pics of Lily, so I want to make sure we get these precious photos shared now:

Stone Cold Normal

The last few weeks have really been tiring.  Here’s the update: Right now, we are 35 weeks and 5 days pregnant.  I’ve been having preterm contractions of varying intensities and at varying intervals for the last two weeks, but we have managed to keep Lily safe in my belly with a combination of hospital bed rest, home bed rest, and various medications to slow down the contractions and keep me from going into labor.  The goal is to keep her in until at least Sunday night so that:  1. Her lungs can further develop, and 2. My doctor and my high risk OB are back in town.  They are presently attending a conference in the Bahamas.  With all of Lily’s issues, I would rather she not be delivered by an on-call Dr. from another practice, no matter how competent he is. 

I’m at home now, and am intensely frustrated to not be able to do very much on modified bed rest.  I especially miss my time with Avery during the day.  I am so grateful to be out of the hospital, though.  Some of those exhausted and devoted mommies on the antepartum unit had been there for 12 weeks!  I can’t imagine being away from my family and lying in a bed in a hospital for 12 weeks.  Thinking about this makes our situation seem much more palatable. 

We are managing pretty well with some help.  Avery stays with her usual sitter during the day, and Mario has cancelled some work and revised his schedule at the church so that he can be home in the evenings. A good friend of ours is giving Katie a lot of extra attention and school help.   I’ve done all of the family meal planning from my reclining command post.   I tell Mario what to buy and give step by step instructions on how to prepare it.  I’ve found he has a lot more cooking skill than he has ever let on.  I’m usually the chef in our house, but he may be making dinner a little more often now that his secret is out.  With a little coaching, he can make a lot more than brownies and breakfast foods!  He really is such a multi-talented man.

Lots of people have offered to bring us a meal, but because we are doing OK for now, we’ve asked them to wait until after Lily comes, when we will undoubtedly need ALL of those dinners.  Thanks, friends!  We are so blessed to have you all in our lives, praying for us and giving us practical help during this time. 

Yesterday, when we saw our OB, she reminded us that Lily may still have significant problems.  She explained, again, that though Lily looks, as she always says, “stone cold normal” now, we still do not know what caused her cystic hygroma and her hydrops earlier in the pregnancy.  We may never know.  She may come out and actually be, medically “stone cold normal,” but we’ve been duly reminded that we do not have assurance of this.  Because we are lacking this worldly assurance, I am clinging to those things of which I can always be assured:  God loves us and has a plan for our lives.  This includes Lily, no matter how long, or short, or difficult, or simple her life might be. 

In my eyes, Lily could never be “stone cold normal.”  Her life is a miracle.  She was created and sustained in my womb by God despite what anyone predicted for her.  She has brought joy and depth to my life and the lives of countless others.  I would much rather she has this legacy, no matter what may lie ahead for her, than she be “normal.”  I do pray, though, that God would allow her physical and cognitive health as part of her testimony.  Thank you for continuing to pray for her with us.  I will keep you posted!

Feeling Funny

I’ve been meaning to post and share that my blood pressure has been great.  In fact, it started going down almost as soon as I published the last post.  Thanks, thanks, thanks for the prayers.  We have some great prayer warriors out there. 

Today, we spent a good portion of the day in labor and delivery.  We were not on a tour.  I started feeling funny last night, but thought it was the chili I had made, because Mario felt a little funny too.  By about 2 am, I was complaining that my stomach felt like it was cramping and I wondered a little if this could be what contractions feel like.  I didn’t have them with Avery at all before her C-Section.  They stopped early this morning, so I did two loads of laundry, baked a chicken, and played baby doll with Avery.  We’re working on not stabbing the baby in the eye with the toy bottle.  The weird feelings started up again a few hours later, and by the time I put Avery down for nap at noon, I could tell that something really might be wrong.  I’d been trying to tell myself it wasn’t for over half a day.   I don’t know why I always try to talk myself out of things being really wrong. I don’t think this way often, and I usually am right to begin with.

The doctor’s office was closed for lunch, so I decided to put sleeping Avery in the car and head that direction since it’s a 30 minute drive and they would be back in by the time I arrived.  Mario had a lunch break and said he could meet me there.  I assumed I would get checked out, told I was imagining things, and sent home.  Nope.  We landed in labor and delivery observation at Women’s Hospital.  The funny feelings were big contractions that, when we arrived there, were about 6 minutes apart, and within a half hour, were 3-5 minutes apart.  I don’t know if seeing them on a screen made them feel worse, or they actually got stronger, but I was not comfortable.  Gentle, nurturing Mario patted me and asked if I would like to squeeze his hand.  I had never, until that moment, understood why women in labor in movies always sound so angry.  I told Mario that I did not want to squeeze his hand;  I wanted to kick him.  I would have said other things, but Avery was still there.  My sweet friend Heather picked her up a few minutes later, and I got to quit fake smiling and gritting my teeth.  And then the first contraction-stopping injection (yes, first) kicked in.  I felt like I was having a contraction, but that my stomach was full of fuzzy caterpillars, or sliced kiwi, or maybe moth balls.  I asked the nurse if this was normal, and she assured me that though she had never heard it described that way, it was completely normal.  I wasn’t able to be so creatively descriptive with the second shot.  More caterpillars, but my heart also started beating a million (120) beats per minute.  I’ve never experienced a panic attack, but I now know that all that good self- talk I preach about is really pretty useless at that moment.  God talk works a lot better.  I did a lot of talking to God.  I asked him to please keep Lily safe, to quiet my heart, remove the caterpillars, and spare me the dreaded third shot with which I was being threatened.  He did.  In fact, we didn’t see another contraction on the screen that hour, and were sent home. 

We’re home now.  Avery is wearing Mario’s baseball cap and ripping up a catalogue; I’ve sent Mario back to the store for the second time to grab yet another item I forgot earlier this week, and Katie is at a football game with some friends of ours. 

I’m always thrilled when God shows off what He can do in our lives and I get to be part of it, but I’d like to not repeat the events of this particular day.  Could you please talk to God for us?  Ask him to quiet my heart, keep Lily safe, and let us stay home a few weeks longer? 

Little Scare

We are not at church this morning.  Mario is working, and Avery and I are at home.  I really long to be there listening to a great Bible Study lesson and sermon, singing praises, and fellowshipping with friends, but we’re having a little scare.  My blood pressure has shot up pretty suddenly and I’m having a hard time keeping it down despite being on meds for it. It’s not in the danger zone yet, but it’s creeping pretty close.   I noticed it because I wasn’t feeling quite right yesterday, and because we are supposed to be watching diligently  for any rise in blood pressure.  When I was pregnant with Avery, it started really rising at about 30 weeks, and I was put on bed rest.  The situation got dangerous enough for both of us that they had to deliver her at 35 weeks.  The risk for having preeclampsia a second time is pretty substantial, so we have been watching.  Pre-e is a condition that only occurs in pregnant women after 20 weeks of pregnancy.  The exact cause is unclear, but it is characterized by high blood pressure and swelling that can lead to seizures, problems with the mommy's liver and kidneys, and lack of nutrition to the baby.  The standard care is bed rest and blood pressure medication, but the only cure is to deliver the baby.   We want Lily to have every possible advantage given all of her potential challenges, and coming early would not be what’s best for her.  Please, please pray that this is not the start of preeclampsia, and that at my Dr. apt tomorrow afternoon, we are able to find a way to keep me pregnant quite a while longer. 

I also seem to be coming down with a cold.  I’ve had a nasty cough keeping me up at night for the past two nights, and today I have a sore throat and slightly stuffy nose.  Avery is sneezing, so I’m sure I won’t be alone in my discomfort. 

I’m worried.  I know I shouldn’t be.  I know God has it all under control.  I mean really, if He can handle major malformations and nearly non-existent chances of Lily surviving, what’s some blood pressure and a silly cold?  I wish I could get my heart caught up with my brain on this.  I think it’s going to take some serious prayer time.  I keep chasing “What ifs.”  What if I have to go on bed rest?  How will I take care of Avery?  What if Lily comes early and we have a long NICU stay like we did with Avery?  How can we give both babies the attention they need?  I always want to have a plan, and some of these problems don’t leave us with many solutions.  We don’t have family anywhere nearby who could come help out.  Again, I need to really, fully know that God does have a plan for all of this that will bring glory to Him, even if I have no idea what that plan looks like or how we fit in. 

Please pray for Lily’s and my health, and for peace, increased faith, and continued joy in this journey for Mario and me. 

She Has a Name!

I’ve been so longing to blog.  I write blog posts in my head all the time, especially while I’m in the car or having trouble sleeping at night, but this is the first time I’ve actually gotten to it in months.  It would take a week’s worth of writing  to catch up on all we have had going on, so I will try to summarize briefly before we forge ahead on the next chapter:

We closed on our old house, but couldn’t close on the new one as anticipated, so were itinerant for over a week.  It was a great adventure and we were so blessed to be able to stay with sweet friends.  Getting to connect with them was actually a huge blessing for us, so we’re thankful for our stint of homelessness.  We moved in and commenced renovating.  We’ve replaced most of the flooring, painted most of the interior, redone a powder room, and cleared a pretty overgrown backyard where we uncovered a beautiful, fruitful lemon tree.  We LOVE our new house.  It really is starting to feel like home. 

I’m 32 weeks pregnant today and for 32 weeks pregnant, I feel great.  I’m tired and puffy and achy, but that’s what I signed up for, so I can’t complain (except to Mario).  Sweet baby Arredondo has continued to grow right on track.  There is nothing anatomically wrong with her that is visible on ultrasound, despite all of the dire predictions we had from numerous physicians and other specialists in the beginning.  We continue to be amazed at what God is doing in her life and in ours.  Both our high risk and our regular OB have told us repeatedly that we can’t know if she will have any lasting problems until we deliver, so we do  still need your prayers.  Specifically, could you please pray:

1.       About the cord insertion issue that poses risk to both the baby and me. 

2.       That  I don’t develop preeclampsia like I did with Avery.

3.       That God will continue to heal this baby of any remaining infirmities.

4.       That God will continue to give us peace and allow us to be joyful in this time. 

5.       That we will not go into labor or have any complications during the last week in October, when BOTH of my doctors will be out of the country at the same time.

Finally, she does have a name.  This little miracle girl, who is so, so precious to us, is named Lillian Joy Arredondo.  Lily has brought us so much joy already, that we have no doubt she will be one of the greatest joys in our life for all our years ahead.  Just think of the testimony Lily already has before her birth!  God delivered her from survival odds of 1 in 3000, healed her body of serious malformations, drew together a community of friends and family in prayer and support, and showed so many people what a powerful, merciful, mighty God He is.  With less than two months until we meet Lily, we will continue to wait in prayer and in joyful anticipation of all God has in store.  I take so much comfort in knowing that you, who are reading this, are waiting with us and lifting us up in prayer.  Thank you. 

Clean Hearts and Carpet

Finally!  A few minutes to write.  We’ve been so busy finalizing house contracts, packing, hiring contractors, working, taking care of children, and trying to get a few hours of sleep each night, that I haven’t been able to sit at the computer for more than 10 minutes at a time.  The great thing about all this busy-ness, though, is that none of it has involved the new baby!  She is doing so well that for the first time during this pregnancy, I did not have to go to the Dr. this week!  A whole week without a Dr. appointment of any kind!  I’ve kept checking my schedule to make sure I’m not missing something, but it’s true! 

One of the things that have kept us busy is carpet.  All of the carpet in the new house has to be replaced.  I don’t mean I would like to have pretty, fluffy new carpet.  I mean it HAS to be replaced.  The light cream-colored, builder’s grade, matted pile of stained fuzz that is currently somewhat adhered to the ground has endured over a decade of small children, various pets, and tenants.  If you recall from an earlier post, I get a little obsessive about data and making decisions.  I’ve found the world of carpet to be pretty overwhelming given these cognitive and emotional challenges.  Usually, I pray about big decisions, and I know God cares even about the small stuff, but I felt a little silly asking for clarity about choosing frieze or plush.  I won’t bore you with the whole, two week long elimination process, but want to share about how we arrived at a final decision.  Mario, by the way, was VERY patient, and participated when I needed him to. 

Our main criteria for carpet were stain resistance, durability, impact on our health, and environmental friendliness.  I can’t tell you how grateful we are for our carpet salesman.  If you live in our area and are in the market for new flooring or counters, PLEASE visit Tom at Five Star Floors.  I don’t think I’ve ever met someone in sales so patient, honest, and knowledgeable.  We ended up choosing to get a shorter stranded frieze in a medium weight with a dense, moisture backed, no VOC pad.  Unfortunately, there were two in our budget that met these criteria.  One was a nylon product by Shaw, and one made of a newer material called Smartstrand by Mohawk.  After I finished the 150 page book on carpet buying, I started in on online reviews.  I saw absolutely no complaints about the Smartstrand, and few about the Anso Nylon.  The ones I did see about the nylon all talked about it “fuzzing” on top when it’s vacuumed with a beater bar (the bristly thing that rotates on the bottom of the vacuum).  This was concerning because we really need all the help we can get getting dirt out of carpet to protect Mario’s allergic nose, and I would hate to have to use a suction only vacuum. 

One hour before we had to have our final choice to Tom, I decided we should run tests of our own.  We had handy a sample of both carpets (to keep).  We started with staining trials.  Smartstrand is supposed to be inherently stain resistant.  The nature of the fiber is to resist staining.  The Anso  Nylon’s surface is treated with a stain resistant chemical.   First, we poured grape juice over a corner of each and let it sit for a few minutes before blotting it up and wiping it with a damp cloth.  This got most of it out on both carpets, but for good measure, we sprayed a bleach solution on top of each stain.  The nylon immediately turned a shade of orange I’ve previously only seen on misguided old lady hair dye jobs.  The Smartstrand showed absolutely nothing.  Next, we drew on a corner of each carpet with a blue Sharpie marker.  Yes, we actually do have Sharpie marker stains on our current carpet.  With mild detergent and water, the Smartstrand came clean, and the nylon about 50% clean.  Because we had two corners left, I felt a need to come up with two more stains.  I would like to have tried vomit, but I’m way past that stage of my pregnancy, so we opted for black mascara and pink lipgloss, both of which were impossible to remove from the nylon.  The mascara came out of the Smartstrand, but a very small bit of the lipstick was stubborn.

 The Smartstrand was the CLEAR winner for stain resistance, so we moved to the vacuum test.  We put each carpet sample on the floor and set our beater bar to a medium height.  We ran the vacuum over the center (dry) section of both samples for about 5 minutes.  The results were SHOCKING.  The Smartstrand showed a tiny bit of fuzzing on top.  The nylon was a tangled, chewed up mess that did not even resemble frieze carpet.  Had it been hair, it would have had to have been cut off.  It was completely irreparable.  Though I know that the Anso Nylon is really a quality product, and carpet does not take this kind of abuse on a daily basis, I don’t think I need to tell you which one we chose. 

This morning, when I was praying, my mind wandered to the carpet, but not in a distracted, obsessive kind of way.  I was thinking about the amazing technology that would allow the Smartstrand to be exposed to such filth and go through such a beating, and come out looking new and clean.  I was pretty well in awe of this until I realized that this “technology” has been around for a long, long time.  It would take the rest of my blogging days to share all of the stupid mistakes I’ve made that have exposed me to filth and beaten down my soul.  I know that in my selfishness, I’ve done some damage to other hearts as well.  So how am I able to be joyful, and why don’t I feel, in my obsessiveness, a need to scrub until I reach the grime in my heart?  How do I know that despite all of my wrongdoing, I will someday be in heaven with God?   Because I am dyed through and through with Smartstrand!  OK, not Smartstrand, but I have died.  The old me became new the day I prayed and accepted Jesus as my Savior, and the renewing process is continual.  The technology has permeated every fiber of my existence and it is permanent.  He sees me like you and I see the sample of Smartstrand carpet: pure.  The choice, in this case, is easy.  No need to research and read reviews, though the testimonies you would gather from many “satisfied customers” are pretty impressive.  If you want to experience the cleansing, healing, and protective power of Jesus, you need only believe that He died for you and your sin on the cross, and ask him to live in your heart.  Tell him that you have sinned, that you are dirty like the carpet, and ask his forgiveness.  You will be inherently changed forever. 

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  1 John 1:9

For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but shall have eternal life.  John 3:16

If  you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  Romans 10:9

Noonan's Test Results

This will be a super-quick update as I am pretty tied up with about a half a million things.  I received this awesome email from our genetics counselor at Baylor College of Medicine yesterday and just had to share:

Mrs. Arredondo,

I wanted to let you know that we have gotten the results for the Noonan syndrome testing and Spinal muscular atrophy testing that were sent to Northwestern Reproductive Genetics lab from the prenatal sample.  Good news – both tests were negative with no mutation detected in the genes associated with these conditions.  This significantly reduces the chance that the baby has either of these conditions.  If you have any questions please let me know.

Sandra

We are thrilled.  We are officially now at a 70% chance of a healthy baby.  Please continue to pray for her, and know how powerful those prayers are.  I’m thinking it might be easier to pray for someone with a name, so we will be announcing her name here sometime in the next few weeks.  Be watching!

In other, less exciting and dramatic news: We are still negotiating things on both our house and the house we are purchasing.  We close (supposedly) in three weeks.  I’m beginning to wonder why this is so hard, and if we heard God right about this move.  If you have some breath and time left when you are praying for baby, please ask for clarity for us in this situation. 

Favorite Sounds

There are sounds that I think could listen to endlessly. One of them is my baby’s heartbeat on the Doppler. That steady thumping has, at times, brought with it such a wave of relief that I’ve wept. Avery’s laughter is another noise that always stirs my heart. Sometimes I hear her giggling in the backseat of the car and have no idea what’s funny, but find myself genuinely laughing with her. If the absence of sound can be counted as a favorite sound, then I would rank snow pretty high on my list, especially early morning snow. How can something so beautiful and pure appear with so little acoustic fanfare? Unfortunately, we don’t get much snow in Houston, and lately, we’ve been longing for ANY kind of precipitation. We have been enduring an extreme drought and record high temperatures for over a month, so rumbles of thunder and the tip-tapping of raindrops at the windows this morning were like a beautiful and vaguely familiar symphony.


I’m thankful for the rain this morning, thankful that our little baby has a heartbeat, and thankful that Avery is happy and healthy. I’m struggling to feel thankful for our housing situation. As of today, we have been negotiating a house contract of some sort every day for TEN DAYS! We thought everything was ready to go, and then we had the inspection on the new house Monday. There was a major, deal-breaking, expensive problem, and we are still trying to work out an agreement with the sellers that meets everyone’s needs. We have to close on our current home on July 22, and if the contract on this new house doesn’t work out, we will be pretty pressed to get a loan on a different new house processed and ready for closing by that time.  Potentially, we could end up moving out of our house and without a new one for some period of time. I’m pretty confident God will provide something, but I am tired, and wanting some resolution to this situation. Did I mention my issues with control and not knowing about the future? Clearly, God is still working on me in this area.

When you’re thanking God for the rain the rest of this week, and when you’re praying for baby Arredondo, as I know you have been, could you please lift up the house negotiations too? I know it’s going to be good, but I’m a little bit anxious waiting to see what God is going to do with this situation.

It's All Good

For those of you who are short on time, or who like to read the last page of the book first, let me help you out. The baby doesn’t have any detectable heart defects! This is a HUGE hurdle. Dr. Carpenter looked at baby’s heart for over half an hour and the rest of her for another 15 minutes and actually used the word “normal.” We have yet to hear anyone use this word to describe her without the word “not” or the prefix “ab” attached. When he said normal, I said, “except the cystic hygroma, right?” Are you ready for this? IT’S GONE! Like the hydrops, it has completely resolved. In one of my posts at the beginning of this journey, I gave you the timeline the geneticist gave us to help pray for the baby. I’m quoting it here:

Week 12-15: The hydrops (the biggest threat) needs to resolve. The fluid needs to somehow get reabsorbed from around our baby’s organs and under her skin.
Week 12-20 – The cystic hygroma needs to shrink. A lot. The measurement is currently 6.7 mm.
Week 18-20 – We need to have a fetal echocardiogram that does not detect any cardiac problems

Though we didn’t have a fetal echo, and may still end up having one at about 24 weeks just to be extra cautious, the baby's heart looks perfect, and everything is resolving right on cue. When we spoke with the geneticist last week, she said that if this happened, AND our last genetic test for Noonan’s came back from Chicago normal, we would be looking at a 70% chance of the baby being born healthy. That test result should be back in the next few days and we are praying with nearly every breath that it is normal. Seventy percent would be amazing! At the beginning of all of this, we were quoted a 1 in 3000 chance of a live birth. If God can take us from 1 in 3000 to 70%, what’s another 30%? We are learning that for our God, who can part a sea, deliver Daniel from the lion’s den, and turn water into wine, NOTHING is impossible. I knew this before, but seeing it up close makes it so real. The beach, in photographs, is beautiful, but feeling the soft, warm sand underfoot and the waves lapping at your ankles is something different. I wish everyone could have an experience in which they see and feel God doing something unimaginably good in their life, a sand and waves experience. I know that for many, trials come, and they aren’t able to see how God works good through them for a long time, maybe not even in this life. Maybe those dear sisters and brothers are stronger in their faith or more patient than I and He knows that they can take the waiting. Maybe He wants to refine them in a way that takes an extra long time. I don’t know His reasoning. What I do feel, is that I’m so, so blessed to be able to witness what He’s doing in my belly, and in my heart, and so undeserving as someone who has had such weak faith. I know there is a work being done in me, and I pray that sharing this story somehow opens the door for Him to work in you too.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

House Drama

I’ve been MIA from my blog for a while because we are trying to move and things got a little hairy. We’ve wanted to move for quite some time for a number of reasons. We are blessed to be in a nice home with good neighbors, but the home is NOT kid friendly. First of all, it is on a busy, through street, so playing in the front yard is not an option. The backyard is the size of a postage stamp and backs to a major, major road. It’s impossible to hold a conversation outside at rush hour because it is so loud. We have four bedrooms, but one is so small that it really only holds a bed and nightstand. Almost all of the floors are wood, which is beautiful, but losing its beauty a little more each day. Not thinking about future children and their pull toys when we bought the home, we put in soft, shiny, engineered hard wood. Finally, we only have 2 bathrooms. I know that in some places in the country, this is a luxury. Teenagers and toddlers, however, do not exist well in the same bathroom. Think loose razor blades, spilled nail polish remover, hairdryers in the sink… We would gladly share the master bath with the babies, but the tub ledge is about a foot wide and the tub is a deep soaker tub. Not accessible or safe. With new baby coming, we really would like to have one bathroom devoted to little people.


We’ve had our house on the market for almost two months, and finally got an offer last Monday. It was low, though, and the contingencies and the closing date didn’t work for us, so we started negotiating, and negotiating, and negotiating. We had been looking at homes and had two we liked in mind just in case this offer came in. Unfortunately, one of them decided to lease out their home instead of sell several days before our contract came in, so we had to go with option two. We submitted an offer on house two, which, according to the comps, was priced unreasonably high. The owners would not even counter. They came back saying, “Please submit a reasonable offer.” Really? We resubmitted with what was close to the very most we could do. No dice. They countered (a day later mind you), at about $1000 below their asking price. Our lender warned us that he didn’t even think the house would appraise for that much and our loan was contingent on the house appraising for the sales price. All this time, we had our potential buyers waiting for us to take their offer because we didn’t feel safe taking it without a house to go to. Just when we thought all hope was lost, the lease on house one fell through! We immediately put in an offer and it was accepted after only one round of negotiating. Our buyers were still waiting and are all ready to close with a price and dates that are workable for us. We are soooo thrilled about our new house. Here’s a photo:

We got a wonderful deal, and our interest rate is going to drop a whole percentage point and a half. Also, we will have a shady front yard on a cul-de-sac, a third bathroom, an extra play space, nearly indestructible tile floors, and a huge, covered back patio to protect us from the hot Texas sun. The house is a block from a park, about 12 blocks from the neighborhood pool, and is zoned to great schools. We couldn’t ask for anything more or be more blessed. We also have had a great real estate agent, Renee Tomochek with Realty Associates. We have spent so much time with her that she has begun to feel like family. Several nights ago, I even dreamed that we were in a new home, sitting at the dining table with Renee, and were all in our pajamas, including her.

Even though we will be pretty busy getting ready for the big move, I plan to keep the blog a little better updated. We have a big appointment late this afternoon with the high risk OB. He will be looking at the baby’s heart, and I will let you know how it goes tomorrow morning.

The Lord Has Done Great Things

Yesterday was one of the best days I’ve had in a long, long time. First, we went to see Dr. Faro and had an ultrasound with Cynthia, the fabulous sonographer I’ve mentioned. No new prayer requests for Baby Girl Arredondo! This, in itself, is an answer to prayer. Please, please keep praying for her. While we were at Dr. Faro’s office, Dr. Faro’s uncle, Dr. Sebastian Faro happened to come by. He is one of my very favorite people in the entire world. He and his niece (my current OB) delivered Avery. Dr. Sebastian was not delivering babies in his practice anymore when we got pregnant with Avery, but had been my OBGYN for a long time and made an exception. I got some serious superstar treatment throughout my pregnancy. Do you know he even held me and let me put my head on his shoulder while they put in my epidural? About a week after he delivered Avery, he announced he was retiring from private practice. I am so honored she was the last baby he delivered.


After we got home from the Dr., we got dressed to go to the pool, but were caught by the phone as we were going out the door. It was our real estate agent, Renee, telling us that we had a contract coming in tonight on our house! Actually, what she said was, “You should leave your underwear hanging in the laundry room more often. It brings you luck.” I called her Sunday after the house was shown to tell her how mortified I was to realize in what state I had left the laundry room. We’ve had the house on the market well over a month. It’s no surprise that I posted on Facebook Sunday asking for prayer for the house to sell and the contract came in the next day.

Finally, to make a historically awesome day even better, while we were waiting for the agent to come over with our contract, Avery took her first steps. I’m so thankful that Mario and I were both here to witness it. What a moment! We caught the second steps on video:

All the joys of today and all of the people who were part of them are blessings from God. Thank you, dear Father, that this, as unlikely as it seems, is a season of joy.

Our mouths were filled with laughter,

our tongues with songs of joy.

Then it was said among the nations,

“The LORD has done great things for them.”

3 The LORD has done great things for us,

and we are filled with joy. - Psalm 126:2,3

Leftover French Fries

I’m always amazed at wives and moms who tell me that they don’t feed their families leftovers for dinner.  These are real women, with busy lives and average grocery budgets.  These special girls deserve a round of applause for their creativity and hard work.  At our house, leftovers are a menu staple.  I don’t even try very hard to disguise them as something else for the second go-round.  Sometimes, tacos will magically become quesadillas, but that’s about as clever as I get.  I make my meal plan on Friday or Saturday for the following week, with leftover days strategically planned on the two days I work.  It usually looks something like this:

Sunday: Poultry or fish, vegetable, starch

Monday: Casserole, soup, pasta, or other one dish wonder, fruit or green salad

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Another casserole, soup, pasta, or one dish wonder, another salad

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Salad, sandwiches, or baked potatoes 

Saturday: Something grilled or takeout

Here’s what got me thinking about leftovers today:  Yesterday we went out to a grill for lunch and the waiter brought Katie regular fries instead of the sweet potato fries she had ordered, so she ended up with two orders of fries and LOTS of both kinds leftover in a doggie bag.  Avery loves the sweet potato fries, so I tried reheating them to go with her lunch today.  I hadn’t tried to reheat French fries since graduate school or earlier and had forgotten an important kitchen truth:  Fries of any variety do NOT work as leftovers.  They become sad, limp strips of mushy, flavorless  grease.  So this is where I draw the leftover line: French fries.  I’m so curious about others’ policies on leftovers.  Are most like my awe-inspiring, non-leftover-serving girlfriends, or are many of you quietly serving up round two of chicken spaghetti?  Let's find out.

  

THIS. WILL. BE. FUN!!!

I think this blog needs a little levity, so at the urging of my friend Katie Sample, I’m going to share about a memorable day she and I had last week.  Katie and I made plans to go to the pool on Wednesday afternoon.  If you have, or have had children under 2, you will understand when I say that getting prepared to go to the pool is a MAJOR undertaking.  Getting a toddler dressed at all is a little like trying to put an octopus in a loose mesh bag without any of the arms hanging out.  Getting a toddler in a swimsuit with straps that are supposed to criss-cross somewhere (I’ve yet to conclude where, and she’s worn it several times) and a hat is….  more challenging.  Sunscreen is another big issue.  We really had a tussle with the lotion the first time we went to the pool, so I thought I would do better if I was armed with the Coppertone Water Babies spray.  Wrong.  Avery was terrified of the spray.  I ended up chasing her around the kitchen floor, trying to aim the spray at her exposed, moving parts.  Have you ever chased a cockroach with Raid?  Horrified that this image came to mind, I gave up, hauled out the lotion, and used the baby spray for myself.  Then, there was the gear.  Floaties: check;  canopied floating saucer: check; extra sunscreen: check; sippy cup of ice water: check;  towels, cover-ups, sunglasses… the list goes on.  Half an hour later, we were out the door.  We planned to go to a pool in a neighboring community rather than the one down the street, because I had driven past the nearer one and it looked very crowded.  I thought I knew where we were going.  Half an hour later…..  Yes, really.  We did finally find it, and Katie and I both managed to get all our gear together and each carry a baby.  I was sooooo ready to put my big belly and fussy baby in the water.  Some moms of older kids were sitting outside the pool chatting, and I should have known something was up from the looks of pity on their faces as we neared them.  “You know all the pools opens tomorrow, right”  one of them asked.  “They’re only open for the swim team kids today.”  Resourceful, optimistic Katie turned to me and said, “ I have a baby pool at home!  This will be fun!”  She did have a baby pool!  And it was not inflated.  No problem.  Katie had a hand operated air pump.  Half an hour later, with both of us huffing and puffing from having taken turns trying to air the pool, Katie yelled as she slammed the pump handle down, “THIS. WILL. BE. FUN!!!”  We finally resorted (did I mention Katie is resourceful?) to using a hair dryer, and got the pool pretty much blown up.  I’m sure the sunscreen had worn off by then, but it was already about 5:30, so I’m thinking we were OK.  There was only room in the pool for Grant and Avery, but we plopped them in it with some bath toys and settled ourselves  to watch.  They loved it!  Ten minutes later – Grant became fascinated with the grass just outside the pool and emptied most of the water reaching over the edge to pull up blades.  Left without her playmate or much water to splash, Avery became intent on trying to get a stick up her nose.  That seemed like a good cue to start drying off and packing up.  Katie’s prediction was right.  It was fun.  The whole afternoon was actually fun because it was spent in great company and created memories that are still making me, and hopefully you giggle. 

Comets and Other Such Wonders

Our genetics microarray is normal!  Dr. Carpenter’s nurse, Angie called me just a few hours ago to give me this incredible news.  This is one more answered prayer, one more hurdle crossed to get to a finish line that includes a healthy baby.  I asked Angie, “Have you ever seen a baby with the problems ours has come out OK?”  She said no.  She has seen a few babies with a resolved cystic hygroma that have come out OK, but never one who had hydrops like ours.    Our geneticics counselor, Sandra has seen it happen twice; Angie has never seen it.  I’m smiling now, not despairing.  I feel a little like I have felt getting up late at night to see a rare astronomical event.  I feel like we are about to witness God doing something spectacular, and I'm giddy with anticipation and excitement. 

When I’ve stayed up to watch an eclipse or a comet, it has always been with friends or family.  We’ve wanted to marvel together.  We’ve prepared in advance, choosing the perfect, unobstructed viewing spot.  Then, we’ve huddled together and kept our eyes fixed on the sky.  Right now, I’m lying on a blanket in an open field, and I’m definitely not alone.  I’ve no idea what this is going to look like, but I’m ready.  Are you watching? 

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Today, I went to my OB appointment alone, but I have never felt less alone going somewhere by myself.  I am so blessed by all the people in Dr. Faro’s office.  I feel genuinely valued and cared for every time I’m there.  The sweet nurse, Gabi, came in the room as I was about to leave several weeks ago, looked me in the eyes, and said, I want you to know I really care about you.”  Then, the next week, the ultrasonographer told me she thinks about our family often when she’s not at work.  Dr. Faro herself has gone above and beyond on more occasions than I can count.  The day before our CVS, she called to make sure I had her personal cell phone number in case I should have questions or feel anxious during the night.  These people more than know my name;  they know my heart and are willing to walk along beside me whether it is grieving or rejoicing. Today, it was doing a little of both.

The cystic hygroma had not shrunk anymore as of today, but it hadn’t grown either.  Dr. Faro spent a long time explaining the new concern I mentioned last week, the membranous insertion.  It is not something that is resolvable or fixable.  It will be there for the duration of the pregnancy.  It means that the cord is abnormally attached to the placenta.  For now, this is not a problem.  It can cause growth problems in the baby later in the pregnancy, and it necessitates a planned C-Section.  Mine will be no later than 38 weeks, which is November 11, my and Mario’s anniversary.  I’m so, so thankful we found this problem, because babies who have undetected insertions almost all bleed to death either when the mommy’s water breaks, or as they are being born. 

Right now, my prayer request is that we don’t need to add any more prayer requests for this baby to our list.  I’m having a hard time keeping up with all of them, so I can’t imagine how our friends and family are feeling. 

Speaking of friends, mine are such treasures.  My friend Katie came over for lunch and I went to her house for a yummy dinner.  Our sitter, Sheryl, kept Avery on short notice while I went to the Dr., and Kelly has offered to watch Avery more times than I can count.  I know too, that so many are faithfully praying.  I can actually feel that we are being lifted up. 

Thank you for walking through this with us.  I’m honored to be able to share it with you.