.trusting...

Another Tuesday has come and, now, is almost gone. Joel and I are at home, thankful and still trusting. Trusting God...for what? Trusting God to keep Emily alive? No. We are trusting God to do what He wants to do. And what He will do will be right, it will be good, and it will be the best. Joel and I are still praying for healing and for Emily to live, but we know that God has the final say. And that's ok with us.

Thank you for all your prayers to our Father in heaven. Thank you for your support, encouragement and concern. Though there have been hard days and hard moments, we have felt supported through all of this.

Some highlights for today:

Emily Grace is no longer breech! (Meaning: Head was up near Renee's stomach. The 'wrong' position for delivery.) She has been breech every time we have had an ultrasound until today! She is head down and seems to be facing the right way, please pray that she will stay this way. Joel enjoys playing with Emily - chasing her foot around, trying to grab it!

Emily (and therefore Renee also) seems to be getting bigger. We will know next Tuesday how much Emily weighs and whether her weight gain is a concern. (A few weeks ago, Emily was two weeks behind in her weight gain, and therefore caused some concern among the doctors.)

6wkstogo

In just under six weeks we hope to give birth to Emily Grace in Minneapolis! Our doctor in Duluth today says it looks hopeful that we'll make it that far.
Thankyou for praying and supporting us. This week I (Joel) was surprised several times to hear of people we hardly know praying for us, or supporting us in other ways. And I was encouraged as the Lord affirmed his choice of the name Emily Grace as numerous people told us how it seemed so right. An excerpt from one email:

I was very pleased to meet, in spirit, Emily Grace.
I just started crying when I read her name and I know
that God named her. She is a very special and precious
little girl and she is going to speak volumes by just
her presence to the people that will be surrounding her
when she decides to make her entrance.
Love and Blessing to you guys...

Renee and I have been thinking about how to celebrate her life, if it is very, very short. And yet we continue to pray for healing. Whatever God does, it will be good. Joel.

.Good news, Good news and Hard news.

Good news: Joel and I did not go to Minneapolis to have a baby today! No signs of heart failure within our baby, so, thank you, Jesus!

Good news: June Bug has a new name! May we introduce Emily Grace to you. Emily means 'to strive, to rival, to excel'. Emily (June Bug) has been striving to survive, striving for life but only with the empowering grace of our God. Joel and I have been striving to trust, to believe, but only by the empowering grace of God. We felt that this name fit perfectly.

Hard news (not bad news, just hard): If you haven't been keeping up to date on what is going on here is a quick summary, Emily Grace (June Bug) has been diagnosed with Ebstein's Anomaly. In short, the valve on the right side of the heart has been formed in such a way that blood sloshes back and forth. The heart is not able to pump blood as it should to the lungs and throughout the body. There is a medication that she can take after she is born which will help (it is far too complicated to explain) to fix this problem, delay surgery and maybe even no surgery at all! Ok, here's the hard news that was brought to our attention today as we spoke with the doctor. The heart takes up 70-80% of the chest cavity. A normal heart of equal age would only take up 50%. Big difference! The concern is now of the lungs. The concern is NOT of the maturity of the lungs but if there is enough lung mass to support Emily. In other words, the lungs at 38 weeks will be mature, able to handle oxygen and be perfectly normal except for the amount of lung tissue. Since the heart is taking up so much space within the chest cavity, the lungs are forced at a standstill in reaching the desired size. There is no way of knowing how much lung mass is needed for Emily.
The doctor said, optimistically, there is a 50-50 chance that Emily's lungs will sustain her once that umbilical cord is cut. If the lungs DO sustain her, then we 'worry' about the heart. But if the lungs do NOT sustain her, then she goes home to be with Jesus.

All is well

Another Tuesday went well. (Especially the weekly milkshake at Culver's - but beware of the Butterburger.) We were encouraged talking to our maternal fetal medicine doctor in Duluth. She was not concerned with Junebug's growth. Although it is slow (about 10% behind), it is not falling sharply away from the norm. So this means that the heart defect is not causing a serious development challenge. Also, Dr. O'Day suggested we cancel our trip to Abbott hospital in Minneapolis on May 2 because they can do the same tests in Duluth. Renee was greatly relieved. Junebug is very active. She seems to want to get out and play, especially when Mama's supposed to be sleeping. Kids!
Thanks to Stephanie and Claire for babysitting today.
And thanks to our family at First Baptist Church for your genuine concern and prayers. Joel.

.once upon a toddler morn.

Story: Joshua wakes up one morning quite distressed. Mama walks in, sees his distress, sees this is normal, and calmly asks him what is wrong. Mama gathers that Joshua would like mama to find a particular booger that he has lost within his blankets. Trying not to laugh, Mama suggests he pick his nose and get another one. Joshua, almost to tears, exclaims that he doesn't have any left and that Mama needs to find the one that he has lost. Needless to say, Mama does not attempt to look for his long lost booger but successfully distracts him with the thought of breakfast. (a real breakfast) The End.