Another Philly Day!

Well, Kenny and I headed up to CHOP at 9 a.m. on Friday. We had a very full day ahead of us. I had my OBGYN appointment first. I had an anatomy ultrasound first and we found out that Maia is approximately more than 5 and 1/2 lbs at this point. That was very encouraging news.

Then we decided to do a amniocentesis to rule out any other anomolies that might have caused Maia's heart condition. We will get those results a few days before she is born. This will give the doctors more knowledge of how they can be ready medically for Maia after the C-section. At this point I had been laying on my back (sciatic nerve) for about an hour, but it hadn 't been giving me to many problems...yet. Oh I have to share this...as I am laying still for the amnio procedure a friend of the family called and my cell phone went off with Gideon singing "Jesus Loves Me". As Kenny goes to get the phone, Dr. Bebbington, the OB doing the procedure, announces "I won't even ask." That made me giggle which of course makes my baby belly shake. Not good when you have a big old needle going into your uterus near your baby! Then Kenny jokingly says " You can tell your friend, they called right in the middle of your amnio!" Of course this makes me want to giggle more...but I controlled myself and told him I can't laugh. No more cute comments during this procedure! Uggh! What are the odds?

After the amnio, I met with a midwife who monitored Maia's heartrate and my uterus to make sure that there weren't any contractions. The amnio only caused less than 1/2 percent of women to go into premature labor, but they wanted to monitor it just in case. I was fine and so was Maia. Yay!

We had a few minutes before I had to meet with the Fetal Heart portion of my day, so Kenny and I toured the SDU (Special Delivery Unit) where I will be staying the first few days of Maia's life. It is such an impressive area. We will be well taken care during our stay.

When we got back from our small tour it was time for the echocardiogram. More time on my back. The technician we had last time was there again. She was so encouraging, sensitive, and talkative last time, but this day was different. She was all business. It was very hard to read what was going on. I was trying to stay as still as possible for her, but that sciatic nerve started to really revolt on me. The last twenty to thirty minutes of the procedure I was silently crying, and I never cry about pain! Last time she gave me breaks to help with the nerve pain, but this time...she didn't seem to care and I wasn't about ready to say anything if she was getting what she needed for the doctors. Kenny told me later that if it had lasted one more second he was going to tell the tech that the procedure was over. I love my husband! My knight!

We then waited in a consultation room. We talked with Dr. Natarajan and the head nurse as before. She said that not much had changed. Things were still small, but the tricuspid valve appeared to be more open!

Remember the prayer we asked everyone to be praying for!?!? Yes, The Lord Answered Prayer with a big fat, YES! Dr. Natarajan says there is still hope for the catheter procedure! That was such a huge relief to hear! Continue your prayers and intercession our sisters and brothers! God is at work in Maia!

Oh, I forgot to mention earlier that our OB, Dr. Bebbington, and we decided that October 29th will be Maia's birthday. Only three more Wednesdays to go! Wow! It is so hard to believe that the day is almost here.

After our talk with Dr. Natarajan we met with the Social Worker, Lucia, and she gave us some great information about Ronald McDonald House and Social Security Disability Insurance for Maia. We also met with Rachelle, the lactation consultant. I am glad we did this. I really hadn't thought about how my puny little Avent hand breastpump would be a joke when trying to pump milk for Maia 24/7. She gave me some great insight of what we need to do.

Then we met with Jill again and toured the CICU (Cardiac Intensive Care Unit) at the Children's Hospital. It was good to see where Maia and our family would be spending so much time in a few short weeks. There were so many families there. It is amazing facility. We didn't take any pictures. I felt it would be an invasion of privacy at this point. Once we are there with our little girl, it will be different.

After the tour we were done for the day. We were done a bit before 5 that evening. It was hard to believe that we were there that long with really no down time. We were thoroughly and completely exhausted. With the happy news of Maia's heart you think we would be in a joyful spirit, but we felt fully drained instead. It had definitely been a long day and a long week.

The next two Friday's we will be going to CHOP in the afternoon for OB appointments, then that final Monday I will go in for a pre-op appt. and then that following Wednesday will be the Big Day! So little time left! I only have about 8 more teaching days left at Calvary and I want to make sure that I leave well. I pray that I have good organization and efficiency these next couple of weeks, while being able to maintain rest and peace. A fine balancing act!

We learned that my mom, Judy, found out through her lumpectomy procedure on Thursday that there is spreading to the nodes. She is at home now and is awaiting news from the doctor on this Monday or Tuesday about what this will mean as far as treatment goes. She is doing okay, but it is all settling in that this is going to be a new lifestyle for her. Thank you for your ongoing prayers!

We also learned that Ken's mom, Paula, has severely depleted kidney function. Her doctor just gave her a call this past week about it and he is concerned. He is not sure if it is due to her diabetes or other meds that she has been on so many years. The word "dialysis" was mentioned. Please lift her up in prayer at this time.

We are definitely at a high pressure point right now. We need your prayers more than ever that God's peace will prevail in our hearts each and every day. We need his strength. Thank you, Lord for all that you have given us! We are so grateful.