I really don't have much news to report on Emma Grace at this point. I went in for an ultrasound this week and everything is exactly the same. She is growing much larger and still has a very large hygroma. Her heartbeat, surprisingly, is still very strong and completely normal. Despite looking at a grainy ultrasound, we could still see the separate valves in the heart. It was beating very, very strongly, despite the obvious problem created by all of her swelling and edema. Almost four weeks ago the doctor scheduled an appointment for March 18th, making the comment that "I doubt you will still be pregnant then." Despite all of this, we are almost at March 18 and I am very much still pregnant. I am bulging gout of my larger clothes and am almost in need of maternity clothes. I requested the ultrasound this week because I was starting to experience a small glimmer of hope that perhaps the hygroma was resolving, but the ultrasound confirmed our expectations: the problem is not resolving and the poor prognosis is the same. Emma just seems to be more resilient than the docs expected, I suppose.
Someone who is familiar with Emma's condition asked me this week for specific prayer requests. I was a little caught off guard, but I told him that we basically have two prayer requests. The first one is the obvious choice for us, a prayer that Emma's condition will resolve and we will have a fairly healthy little girl to hold in our arms in just a few months. This is not very realistic given what we know. The second request is that if this is all going to end, we would like i to b over soon. We are concerned about Emma's suffering and do not want to hold on to her if she is in pain or suffering. This is also difficult on us emotionally and physically difficult for me. If this is not going to have a happy ending, we want to relieve everyone's suffering and move on with our lives.
On a happier note, we have been getting out and doing family activities lately. On Saturday Tim and I ran in a 2 mile St. Patrick's Day Fun Run. This race has been somewhat of a tradition for us. I have run the 10K portion of the race for the last two years, starting the year I was pregnant with Timmy. This year I am a lot further along in the pregnancy and opted for the lighter 2 mile event. Tim ran the 10K with me last year and also opted for the 2 Miler this year. He pushed Timmy in a stroller and I dragged Chance along with me. Surprisingly, he lasted the entire race and we finished strong. Our time was terrible, but we had a lot of fun. It was great to get outdoors for an entire afternoon and the weather was perfect for a run. We saw lots of our friends and really enjoyed the festivities.
I have enclosed some pictures. I do not post many pictures of Tim, so I have included one from two weeks ago when he went to Topeka to shoot sporting clays at a local club. He had a blast and has been talking about it ever since.
Someone who is familiar with Emma's condition asked me this week for specific prayer requests. I was a little caught off guard, but I told him that we basically have two prayer requests. The first one is the obvious choice for us, a prayer that Emma's condition will resolve and we will have a fairly healthy little girl to hold in our arms in just a few months. This is not very realistic given what we know. The second request is that if this is all going to end, we would like i to b over soon. We are concerned about Emma's suffering and do not want to hold on to her if she is in pain or suffering. This is also difficult on us emotionally and physically difficult for me. If this is not going to have a happy ending, we want to relieve everyone's suffering and move on with our lives.
On a happier note, we have been getting out and doing family activities lately. On Saturday Tim and I ran in a 2 mile St. Patrick's Day Fun Run. This race has been somewhat of a tradition for us. I have run the 10K portion of the race for the last two years, starting the year I was pregnant with Timmy. This year I am a lot further along in the pregnancy and opted for the lighter 2 mile event. Tim ran the 10K with me last year and also opted for the 2 Miler this year. He pushed Timmy in a stroller and I dragged Chance along with me. Surprisingly, he lasted the entire race and we finished strong. Our time was terrible, but we had a lot of fun. It was great to get outdoors for an entire afternoon and the weather was perfect for a run. We saw lots of our friends and really enjoyed the festivities.
I have enclosed some pictures. I do not post many pictures of Tim, so I have included one from two weeks ago when he went to Topeka to shoot sporting clays at a local club. He had a blast and has been talking about it ever since.
4 comments:
How far along are you? I'm sure you're little belly is starting to look super cute!
Heather
I came across your story today, My Ryan also had a CH of 7.2mm. He is 10 months now and doing really well but experiencing some significant delays. This journey is so so hard and yours is made so much harder by the hydrops. I wanted to invite you to take a peak at the benotafraid.net site. It really helped me when I was pregnant. Theres a mum on there with a little girl Rosie who has Turners and also SURVIVED a CH in utero AND hydrops. These miracles do happen. Keep praying for yours.
We continue to think of your family often and are praying. Thank you for the more specific directions to our prayers.
And what a beautiful family you have, we imagine the family race was a nice memory you will all share. And just like an Army family, sometimes it doesn't matter the time, as long as everyone finishes! :)
You all take care and know we are praying,
Karen
Prayers being sent your way...
Timmy is such a beautiful, happy-looking child! I was thinking of you guys at Sam's Club yesterday. They had a HUGE bag of Krusteaz pancake mix and it made me smile.
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