Happy New Year!
We met with both the pediatric surgeon and our perinatologist this week. We now have more questions than answers (which is probably good since the answers we thought we had were not necessarily accurate). Baby will need surgery after birth... sometime. (We are still praising the Lord that baby will, Lord willing, be fine until birth - hooray!). Surgery will be depending on both baby's breathing ability and weight-gaining ability. There are about 4 or 5 "typical" scenarios that we could fall under. Each would require surgery after a different amount of time (hours, days, weeks or months). Part of us wants to just "get it done", but the Drs. would prefer that baby make it to 4 or 5 months and then do surgery. We are thankful that it is not a decision that we make, but that we can trust the Lord to do what is good "for we who are called according to His purpose." and that He will give us sufficient grace for whatever situation that is. We are also resting on His ability to do "above and beyond all that we ask or imagine.
One other piece of truth has helped me put this all in perspective. We have been going to the specialist since 22 weeks (23 weeks baby developed hydrops, drained at 24 wks, shunt at 25). We are now at 30 week. That's only 8 weeks. We have 10 left. A LOT can change in that amount of time. I need to remember that. The last 3 weeks the mass has stayed about the same, it has not been shrinking which we were hoping for starting at 28 weeks.
Thanks for your prayers and support.
In other news, we have had a wonderful Christmas. Meg's brother and aunt have been in town and Connor & Katie are very fun ages. Excited to work on establishing more traditions for next year to remind us to focus on the Lord instead of all the "other".
Hello friends,
Our littlest baby is still without hydrops and swelling - hooray! Statistically, it looks like we're stable until birth, we'll continue being monitored weekly until then. Just 2 things we are thankful for:
*That this is our 3rd baby. We are getting quite spoiled with the luxury of weekly ultrasounds, and we will have a growth check (yes, we will know the weight of baby) next week - that is done monthly. I think a "normal" pregnancy after this one )
would be tough on us ("what's going on in there?")
*The shunt is still in place. The part of the shunt that is outside of baby is wrapped around his/her arm. The doctor thinks that, if anything, it can cause cosmetic damage. Thankful we can continue to monitor to make sure blood supply is still good in that arm.
In other news, Connor is officially a 3 year old (Dec. 14). Hard to believe he's that old. Today we are enjoying a gorgeous, clear, sunny day! This morning Connor says "Look, Mommy! Sunshine! Thank you, God." (He hears me point out every ray of sunshine). Despite my best efforts to instill a love for sunshine in my children with comments such as those he has his own opinions. In the car about an hour later, he said "Mommy loves sunshine. Connor and Katie don't like sunshine. It's too shiny. People don't like sunshine. Cars like sunshine." Oh bother!
As we near the end of the year, I am tracking our Drs. appointments and mileage, etc, and we have had 15 visits to the specialist and/or hospital, and 1419 miles. Impressive, right? I also had to chuckle as it looks like we will just reachy our "out of pocket maximum" (for this calendar year) on our insurance almost exactly at Dec 31. I love that as I realize these things, the Holy Spirit immediately follows with the truth of "God knew that and will provide. He is in control of both the cells in baby's body and all the financial arrangements in the world," and I can respond by laughing.
Merry Christmas, all! We have one more appointment before Christmas and hopefully it will be "no news". The week after, we are meeting with surgeons at Children's.
Meg
Three exciting words:
NO MORE HYDROPS!
At today's appointment, baby looked normal (well, except for the mass that's still in the chest). No fluid in abdomen, no swelling in skin or skull. We are SO thrilled and thankful. Our risk level for the hydrops re-developing (based on mass size and head circumference) is in the lower category. Woo-hoo. This means that we can start thinking about delivery, etc (first week of March, Lord willing) and going in weekly.
I continue to be incredibly thankful for the quality of care that I am receiving. Absolutely exceptional. I am also thankful for the Lord's timing... we may be able to get Christmas decorations up this year =)
Sending our love and gratitude for your prayers and support,
Meg
We had another ultrasound/perinatologist appointment yesterday (Friday) and everything looks as good or better than it has. Thank the Lord! We are so amazed and thankful for several things:
1) That the fluid in the stomach - hydrops - is decreasing (hooray!)
2) The mass is approx. the same
3) We only have to go in weekly (unless something changes) here on out!!
4) Our children are growing more affectionate with baby (they kiss, tickle, and pat baby voluntarily)
His mercy is new every morning, and we are especially feeling the mercy of relief right now. Moving forward, the things we are praying for are:
1) Continued reduction/elimination of the hydrops (which indicates strain on heart)
2) For the mass to begin to decrease
3) God's will in delivery (c-section vs. VBAC) - this is not affected by baby's condition, but Meg's.
4) God's will post-delivery with baby's surgery and recovery.
Thank you for your continued support and prayers.
Love,
Jeremy, Meg, Connor, Katie and Putman5 (or "baby")