Dear Friends,
Things are continuing to move forward with the pregnancy but every day offers a new challenge and a new area of concern. If you have been following along so far in the pregnancy you are aware of the blood condition that Jenn has that means she must give herself injections twice a day. This is to prevent blood clots from occurring which is something that has happened in the past. She is prone to clotting and the risk increases with pregnancy. Additionally we have had to deal with the complete heart blockage of Grace starting at 19 weeks. About a week and a half ago the fluid level became low which is also a reason for concern. Because of this they bumped up our doctor's appointments and ultrasounds to three times a week.
On Sunday Jenn was having a hard time feeling the baby move so we decided to go to the triage at Mary Birch Hospital. Fortunately our doctor was on call that day and in the hospital. He was able to come over and do the ultrasound and reassure us that everything was still stable. He suggested that we come in every day (seven days a week) for an ultrasound from now until the baby is born in October. After discussing this between ourselves we decided that we would stay on three ultrasounds a week until we hit the 32 week point. At that point the doctor said he would require it. We are at 29 weeks as of Sunday so we are only talking about two weeks anyway.
This has not been a normal pregnancy from the start but it has increasingly caused stress as the weeks have progressed. We are doing everything we can to make sure that Grace stays healthy and is born with the best chance of thriving. The doctors tell us right now that the heart condition should not really interfere in her having a completely normal life and that she should be able to do what any other child can do. Of course, at some time she is going to have to have a pacemaker put in but we won't decide that until after she is born. Some children do well with her condition and can go months or even years without one while others have one put in almost immediately.
Overall I think that Jenn and I are holding up well under the added stress. This stress is in addition to the normal stress of being a full time pastor dealing with issue as they come up and also moving into a new house a few weeks ago. Of course, if you throw in a major injury in the mix in addition to everything else I think that I am probably off the stress chart. I don't think I'd be able to cope if it wasn't for my faith, family and friends. Thank you for your love and encouragement! Feel free to write or call as you feel led.
9 comments:
I'm glad to hear that things are going well. I'm definitely praying for all three of you.
Are you using a Mac, Dave?
i'm glad you guys aren't losing your heads over the complications.
an ultrasound a day is a lot of time. would you be moving ino the hospital at that point?
ben, that's the most random question ever. if you need someone with a mac, tho, i use one at work.
Actually Ben, I am using a mac. I switched about a year ago when my last pc got infected with spyware and trojan programs because the firewall I had setup didn't block them and the antivirus I was using sucked.
About the ultrasounds, it is crazy but we are trying to take it in stride and keep things as normal as possible. We will go to the doctor five days a week and to the triage at the maternity hospital on Saturdays and Sundays.
Why the mac question?
@Adam-
HA! It wasn't random!;)
I was seeing if my stat counter on my blog was displaying the correct info on the computers that visited my site. My stat counter logs the time, location, OS, screen resolution and browser version. Pretty incredible stuff if you ask me. I was just wondering because it said that the computer that logged on from El Cajon was using OS X. Anyway, my curiosity is abated.
Not to prolong this any longer but who cares what computer someone is using to check out your blog page? That seems as obsessive as when I used to log my gas purchases but never used the information for anything. I finally realized it was pointless. Okay, it took me four years but I did realize it.
This is true. It is completely pointless. Really I just like to see how many people visit my site. Yeah, it's ego stroking, but hey. It's just a new toy for me and I like to see it work. I'm sure the fun will wear off really quick.
I've been out of the loop so I had no idea what you have been going through. My sister Sarah just finised a high-risk pregnancy with the successful birth of Jordan Virginia on July 10th. She made it to week 36 so they were pleased. Praying for you two!
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