Basketball Pictures and an Update

Here are a few pictures from the games on Saturday. Garrett fell and hurt his knee (skinned it) so he sat on the bench with an ice pack. The first picture of Grace, the ball is actually coming off her face. She went for a steal and the ball went off her nose and into her hands. She kept playing. Her eyes were watering, but she told the coach she was ok and wanted to stay in while she was running down the court. The second shot is another steal that went alot smoother.

We went to UAMS and Childrens on Friday. We received encouraging news. The cardiologist told us the left ventricle has continued to grow at a consistant rate and he thinks our child will only have to have one heart surgery instead of the three. Of course many things can change that, but he seemed really encouraged by what he was seeing.

We also toured the Heart Station at Childrens. We both feel better now that we know the flow of things. We got all of our questions answered and have a contact person with a phone number and email if we have any more. I am also glad I saw the set up of the ICU before it is my child there. It was overwhelming to see the babies with all those machines, but when I looked in one of the pods there was a daddy holding his baby and it really calmed me.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We leave for Little Rock in 3 weeks, and the baby should be born in 3 weeks and 1 day. I want as many people praying for this little one as possible. I firmly believe that prayers is helping this baby and keeping me sane right now.

Another post with no pictures

I need to upload pictures soon. Anyway. I had another non stress test on Friday and baby Bum is doing well. My blood pressure was up and I am swelling so I have to go back on Tuesday for a blood pressure check. It is something he is just keeping an eye on. I actually had lost weight and I am not spilling protein in my urine (sorry if tmi) so it makes it not so bad, but they are going to keep an eye on it anyway.

We go back to Little Rock on Friday for the marathon ultrasound session. There is nothing like laying on an uncomfortable ultrasound table with my big belly hanging out with goop all over the place for two, two and a half hours. It is just frustrating because now it seems like they cannot really tell anything for certain and we come out with more questions. We will get to tour the cardiac icu at Childrens this time and I will get to ask some question that have been bugging me. Mainly about nursing the baby. Last time we went the cardiologist told us that the heart is a very greedy organ and we would have to use high calorie formula. I told her we had planned on breast feeding and she said I would more than likely have to pump and add to the breast milk to up the calories. We had planned on not using bottles at all if possible and nursing only so this is another plan that we are changing, but we will do whatever is best for this baby. I am just worried about how all this will work while the baby is in the hospital. I have a feeling that most of my questions will not be answered until we are right in the middle of all this.

Anyway. G and G are in the middle of basketball. They are both doing really well. I have helped coach MG's team the past two years and I really enjoy it. The girls are so sweet, but I have had to sit out more. The girls are afraid of hurting me or the baby, which is really sweet that 10, 11 year old girls think about things like that. They are first in their division and have won some pretty tough games. GW is learning so much. He had never really shown much intrest in playing until this year and while he has yet to take a shot in a game, he has really come a long way defensively. He has stolen the ball and dribbled in games and has even had some fouls called on him. The first part of the season he just sat back and watched so we are really proud of the progress he has made. Oh, and he loves to play "pig" with dad in the driveway so Sean really enjoys that.
Well, that is pretty much it for now. I need to post some basketball pictures soon. Please say a prayer for us on Friday if you think about it.

Not Much Going On

There is not a whole lot to update right now. We have had two non stress tests since the last post and both have been great. The baby is strong and moving around alot. We have 5 weeks and 1 day till I am induced. I am really excited to finally meet this little one, but very nervous. The baby is fine as long as he/she is inside me, but after the birth we will have answers and a plan for helping this baby.

I have been reading some blogs of families going through the same thing. It has helped to see people going through this and coming out the other side with their beautiful babies. It is just getting through this that I am worried about. There are pictures of the tiny babies surrounded by wires and tubes and machines and I am just not sure how I am going to walk into a room and see my baby surrounded by all this stuff and not fall apart. How am I going to sit in a waiting room for 8 hours while they operate on my child. Just please continue to pray for us. It is the only thing we can do right now and to be quite honest I need to feel God's peace. Thank you.