Thursday update

God enjoys lavishly blessing his children with good gifts. We know that there is sin in the world and that things don’t always turn out the way we want, but right now we are experiencing God’s rich gifts. Each day that God gives us with our precious little girls inside me is a gift. Every ultrasound in which we see two flickering heartbeats dancing in rhythm is a gift. All of the gentle, and sometimes not so gentle, kicks I receive from the babies are reassuring gifts from our great giver and provider.

God has given us peace to weather the storms and loving comfort for the moments of waiting that are almost too much to bear. He has turned moments of sorrow into dancing again. At first we thought the chances of taking two babies home was about 50-60 %. This morning Dr. Lim, who performed the surgery, explained that at the Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati the chance of having one baby living are about 91-93 %, and the chance of taking two babies home is about 68%. These numbers give us cause to celebrate!

Reasons for thanks:

1. At our follow-up ultrasound this morning we saw both babies’ heartbeats and noticed that Baby A has more living space (amniotic fluid) than before. She is already kicking more with her extra workout room, and I love every minute of it!
2. Both Jeff and I had good nights of sleep last night despite the many beeps and buzzes in our room that could have kept us awake.
3. Paul Kingma, Roy and Sonja Kingma’s son, came to visit with us this morning and also sounded pleased with the results of the surgery. He is a doctor here who works with lots of babies in the Neonatal Unit, so his encouragement meant a lot!
4. We made it back to our hotel to rest until the follow-up tests next Monday.
5. Jeff surprised me with a bouquet of flowers, which he put in a homemade 2 liter pop bottle vase, which makes them all the more endearing. (Do I have the best husband in the world, or what?) :o)

Prayer Requests:

1. Our girls will continue to adjust well to the change in blood flow created by the surgery and that they will grow and be fully developed before they are born.
2. The hole in Baby A’s heart will by God’s grace close before she is born. The doctors told us it would be rare for this type of hole to close before a baby is born, and surgery should be able to fix it if it is still present at birth. We believe in a big God who can work miracles today as he did long ago, so we offer us this request even though the odds are against it.
3. Baby B’s kidney would return to normal size before birth.
4. I (Lisa) would heal quickly and without any complications.

Feeling God’s love and mercy,
Lisa