We have a level 2 sono today at 11:00 am. During yesterday's [routine] sono they found an issue that needs to be looked into. We have been down this road two times before and our children are healthy!! But I would still like to request prayer that everything is okay and that even if it's not, we will trust in Him.
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with Thanksgiving, present your requests to God." - Philipians 4:6
Also pray that we have His peace from beginning to end and that our minds don't wander down the road of the unknown! It won't do any good!
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." - Philippians 4:8
Later that day:
We found out today that our baby has a substantial amount of fluid collecting in the abdominal cavity and could prove to be fatal. There is a long list of things that could be causing this, but right now we just don't know anything. We will do another sonogram in a week to see how slowly or quickly the fluid is increasing. We also did some blood tests that may give us some information about what is going on. We will get those results in 10 days. When we have more information we will decide how to move forward. This is a very serious situation but God is in control. We have faith that He can heal our baby. But if He chooses not to, we know that He has a reason and a purpose for everything.
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 NIV)
No matter what He chooses to do, we will trust in Him and He will give us peace.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NIV)
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7 NIV)
Please pray for our baby and for us. He is faithful.
But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. (Romans 8:25, 26 NIV
November 8th:
Unfortunately we were not able to find out the sex of our baby today but the blood tests we are waiting on will tell us. We should get those results and know Monday or Tuesday. The good news is that there doesn't seem to be any increase in the amount of fluid from last time. However, that doesn't change the fact that the doc says she still thinks the baby is unlikely to survive. The abdominal cavity has so much fluid that it is pushing in on the chest cavity. The heart is very strong but the doc says that if the baby makes it all the way through the pregnancy that she just doesn't think the lungs would have room to develop enough for the baby to survive. We asked if there is a facility that would be more specialized and more able to help us try to do something to save the baby. She recommended a facility in Denver. But before they would accept us they would need more information...including an amniocentesis (unless the blood results on Monday tell us what we need to know). So if Monday's blood results to not tell us what is wrong then we will do an amino and once we have all that info/results, the Denver facility will decide wether it would b beneficial to try to drain the fluid from the abdominal cavity.
Please pray for continued peace and trust throughout this situation. Some days are harder than others and today is definitely a hard one for me. But God is faithful and He will sustain us.
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1 NIV)
And of course pray for healing for the baby and for wisdom for the doctors.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6 NIV)
Later that day:
After our sonogram today I was really struggling emotionally and I didn't want to go home to my messy house, by myself, while Jon went back to work. So I went toCindy's house (she has been watching my kids while we have appointments) and instead of picking the kids up and heading home, she kindly let me and the kids hang out at her house until Jon got off work. Well apparently he didn't go straight back to work after the appointment...first he went home and picked up the house, cleaned the kitchen, swept & vacuumed...plus there was a vase of flowers and a movie on the table with a sweet letter saying that he was taking care of supper. I couldn't help but cry because of his kindness. What a wonderful husband I have! And what wonderful & supportive friends and family I have. Thank you all so much for your prayers, support and kind words. God has blessed me greatly!
November 15th:
I'm very emotional about this announcement: We are having a little girl and her name is Maggie Lorraine!!
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." (Psalm 139:13-16 NIV)
She tested negative for Trisomy 13, 18 and 21. This is good news but the search for information continues and the next step is an amniocentesis. I'm hoping to get in today but if not we will probably do it on Monday. Then the wait continues. It could take up to 2 weeks to get those test results and then we can hopefully finally be referred to the facility in Denver. Please keep praying for little Maggie!!!
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." (Philippians 4:6 NIV)
November 18th:
We had an appointment to do an amniocentesis this morning but we did not end up doing the procedure. It is a very long story but here are the highlights:
• We had a very thorough ultrasound this morning that showed that everything they could possibly examine on the baby looks absolutely perfect and healthy except, of course, for the presence of the fluid.
• The fluid level still looked about the same as it did during the last two ultrasounds.
• The doctor we saw today told us that we were being too optimistic and we might want to tone that down a bit (insert eye roll here). Despite his advice, we actually left feeling MORE optimistic.
• We have been unhappy and uneasy with our experiences so far with Midwest Perinatal and our gut has been telling us to get a second opinion at a different facility and be done with them.
• The doctor we saw today gave us a much more thorough explanation of our treatment options which was very helpful. The other doctors didn't apparently feel it was important enough to mention unless we specifically asked (another eye roll).
• We decided not to move forward with any procedures until we get a second opinion. Jon contacted KU Center for Advanced Fetal Care and we have an appointment TOMORROW AT 9:00!! Yay!!
I know there are so many of you praying for wisdom and the right doctors to help us...thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Continue to pray that we make the absolute best decisions possible for little Maggie.
November 19th:
Here is a summary of our KU high risk center appointment:
• We saw Dr. Weiner today and he was VERY thorough with the ultrasound, observations, conclusions and information.
• We absolutely feel we made the right decision visiting this facility and have a much better understanding of what is going on and what to do about it.
• His conclusion following the ultrasound is that the she most likely has a viral infection and she has had it for a while now.
• He noticed that her liver has inflammation and a cyst leading him to believe it has been affected by infection.
• He noticed that the plates in her skull, that usually have gaps between them for expansion as the brain grows, are instead overlapping. What this indicates is that the brain used to be bigger but has since shrunk. This issue also suggests that there is infection involved which has already done damage to the brain.
• Unfortunately with a viral infection there is absolutely nothing we can do to treat it. It will take its course and do whatever it ends up doing. The fluid in the abdomen could be drained if it gets worse and starts causing a problem but it's currently not hurting anything so it's fine as is. We will continue to monitor her with ultrasounds.
• The only thing we can do at this point is an amnio to find out what kind of virus it is. IF we would be lucky enough to pinpoint the exact virus, it would only give us an idea of what to expect but there would still be nothing we could do to treat it. At this point we do not feel the benefits of the amnio are worth the risk.
• As we have known all along, the baby may not be able to survive this. Or she could survive but there will be complications because damage has already been done.
• There is another possible outcome that the doctor didn't mention. God created Maggie. God loves Maggie. God has a plan for Maggie. God is in control of Maggie's life. God can heal any damage to her body in the blink of an eye. If He chooses to, He can work a miracle.
Even though we received bad news, we are very happy we went to the KU high risk center. We do not know what the virus will do or what the outcome will be. No matter what, we already love Maggie just how God made her. Our faith is in a big God and we will not give up on her.
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26 NIV)
“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? (Jeremiah 32:27 NIV)
November 27th:
We are 23 weeks along today! It is such a blessing every day to feel her kicking and moving so much! God is in control...we can be at peace about waiting on God for the outcome because He is still holding Maggie in His hands. And if He chooses to bring her home to Heaven with Him, we will be sad but she will have the best life! And if she has any medical problems or disabilities, God still made her perfect and has a plan for her life and she will be a joy to us! And if God chooses to work a miracle and she is completely okay, well, AWESOME! No matter what He chooses to do, we will choose to praise Him.
I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. I will glory in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together. (Psalm 34:1-3 NIV)
December 9th:
We have an ultrasound tomorrow morning at 9:30 at KU med. We are very excited to see sweet Maggie again! Please pray that we see positive progress for her. Also pray that God continues to provide us with peace no matter what the ultrasound shows. Thank you all for your continued prayers! He is faithful!
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7 NIV)
December 10th:
Praise God!! We had a very positive ultrasound!! Here is a summary of what we found out during our KU med appointment:
• The liver has not gotten worse and looks like it could be on its way to getting better. A liver can actually regenerate itself. We are hoping the possible improvement to be an indication that the virus has run it's course and will cause no more damage. Only time will tell.
• The abdomen appears quite flexible (not tight) despite the fluid so the doctor is fairly confident that there will be no issues with the development of the lungs. The fluid is really not hurting or affecting anything.
• The brain looks about the same but the doctor isn't a specialist in that area so he didn't want to get into what may or may not be wrong with the brain's development.
• He suggested we do an MRI on her brain so we can hopefully find out much more accurate information about what is going on with it which could help us have a better prediction of what to expect. We are scheduling an ultrasound followed by an MRI on Jan 6th.
• Although it's always a possibility that something could change for the worse and she could die in utero, he seemed pretty optimistic about the possibility of her making it at least through the pregnancy to full-term.
• We left feeling like there was a shift in talking less about whether she will or will not survive and instead more about what problems/complications she will have. Although the doctor did not actually say it, it seems to us like it is appearing to be much more likely than it has in the past that she could survive.
Thank you all again for your prayers!!! Please pray specifically for her brain because that is the main concern at this point. Continue to pray for a miracle and for continued peace. Praise Him for the already answered prayers!!
"the peace of God, which transcends all understanding" (Phil. 4:7) is a very REAL thing. I have so much peace that I have been spending the last several weeks literally ENJOYING my pregnancy and my every day life despite the known complications and possible outcomes for Maggie. This truly IS beyond my understanding. I know that this peace and joy come straight from my Savior, Jesus Christ!
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NIV)
December 11th:
25 weeks!!
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