I am truly amazed, not to mention how blessed I feel at how our story is being spread to every nook and cranny of this world...literally. It is amazing the statistics that Google can show you regarding where your blog is viewed throughout the world. For example, did you know that right now, there is a 23% chance you are reading this right now on an iPhone? Of course you did! The cards that filled our mailbox today when I got home were an absolute shock. I never expected this to happen. I didn't start writing to reach out. I'm not really sure why I did (even though it was only a week ago that I started....) but I think it was important for me to be able to get my feelings out. Most of the time, I don't really show the swing in my emotions. I am fairly even keeled and go with the flow. I know this may be a way of helping me through it all, to reflect on everything. Plus, it allows me to talk to Mom, Dad, Kelle and Jay and not repeat stories four or five times!
Some of the things I have been praying for have kind of been selfish lately. My rekindled walk with God has been going on for a little more than three years now and I have always felt uneasy about what to say to God. However, I also know that the Holy Spirit tells God exactly what I want Him to hear, whether I say it correctly or not. We have received hundreds of messages, texts, e-mails, phone calls, letters filled with bible verses, prayers, and testimonials (hard to beat the one I heard last night standing in my basement whle the door handles were being installed....the last place I ever thought I would hear one!). It is so encouraging and refershing to feel the love and support from people we know and don't know. While talking to my mom tonight (who by the way is currently in Basalt, Colorado sitting on a deck overlooking the Frying Pan River....can we say jealous????) I was saddened to hear the struggle in her voice and her words. However, I was at a loss of words when she told me about her friend and former coteacher who had spread our story to a church in New York and how they were going to make it their mission to pray for us and our family. I don't even know what it means to make somebody your mission, but it was so comforting to hear the joy in my mom's voice knowing that there were people over a thousand miles away, who none of us had ever met, praying for her and for us. This whole experience (even though it has only been 9 days) has felt like a lifetime of learning. We thought that God used our miscarriage as a way of drawing us nearer to him and as a way of reaching out to others to show His love and mercy. I am quickly finding out that His plan is much bigger than that. He is using Kelsea and I, and baby H for a much bigger purpose. However, we still appreciate the prayers for strength and understanding, and esepcially patience.
Even with the prayers for patience, it is hard to keep. Kelsea finally got the call from the Fetal Care Center in St. Louis today, one that was met with a sigh of relief and put a smile on my face. This is where I wanted to take Kelsea and Baby H because of one name that kept popping up on almost every search I have done. A Large Omphalocele is correctable, but from my research, it still poses many risks after he is born and there are many other defects that can be associated with this, which is why I want the best out there. We go to St. Louis on October 10th for an early morning appointment with a Genetic Counselor. This sounds scary in itself, but it is no big deal. Everything we will be doing with the Fetal Care Center that day (which is a part of Barne's Jewish and St. Louis Children's) was previously done at St. John's in Springfield, IL. The genetic counselor basically will talk with us about our immediate family and medical issues in the family. We will then have a more in depth ultrasound performed and will have to discuss the amniocentesis.
While in Springfield, we opted for a blood test which screens for the "Big Three" chromosal defects which are many times associated with an omphalocele. We should be getting those results back any day. After getting those results and the ultrasound in St. Louis, we will then decide on the amnio. I want to be as educated and prepared as possible when Baby H arrives because I want to give him the best life possible.
Afterwards, we will meet with the Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor, Dr. Shanks, who it seems will be in charge of our pregnancy for the duration. After that, who knows. We might have to have an echocardiagram performed to check the heart functioning, but we just dont know. I felt so good two nights ago because I spent about an hour on the St. Louis Children's website looking at the services, doctors, patient stories, and vitual tour. The Virtual Tour was very neat. It is hard to believe that will be our home away from home in a few short months. I wonder if they will allow Tucker to come visit Baby H?
Random thoughts as I have been typing:
- I wonder how many times a person's car can get hit/door dinged over the course of a lifetime? Kelsea's car was hit again this past Sunday in the church parking lot. I think we have put more money into that car over the past three years, due to being hit or ME hitting concrete pillars underneath hotels in St. Louis, than what it is worth! You think God is trying to tell us something about her vehicle?
- Well, I was right...AGAIN! It took Kelsea less than 6 days to "slip" on Baby H's name! Luckily it wasn't on Facebook like I had predicted! However, a slip turns into well now I have to tell such and such, and then you have to tell such and such.... I would like to keep some things a surprise, this being one of them.
- QHS Blue Devil Soccer just won 2-0 over Legend High out of Colorado in the Gateway City Classic. Man do I wish I was down there tonight....gonna miss going to the zoo and seeing the penguins in the morning. However...I am sure Dink is happy to have a room without me for a change!
- Wonder what ever happened to this kid below... Kind of cheesy, but I like some of the lines. Kind of made me think about all of the people all over the world praying for us tonight....
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