Thursday, April 22, 2010

Life and death

Yesterday, my sister Laura felt like something didn’t quite feel right. She also had a bit of back pain. In order to evaluate what was happening, the doctor had her come in for an ultrasound.

They couldn’t find the heartbeat.

The second ultrasound confirmed what they had thought: their unborn baby – at just over 20 weeks along in the pregnancy, having been diagnosed with two fatal conditions just two weeks earlier – had passed away.

As I write, they are attempting to have a smooth delivery for the baby – hoping they can avoid a c-section, while having a slow enough labor that her c-section from 22 months ago doesn’t cause trouble. Please pray for Tim, Laura, Josiah, and their extended family as we mourn.

Meanwhile, we had another good report today. Though we didn’t get a report on the girls’ growth – technically, such measurements should be taken at least two weeks apart – everything else looked good. Twin A’s MCA levels were far better than they have been before, so we’re especially thankful for that.

Lisa is up to 30 weeks and 4 days. The average length of pregnancy after having the laser surgery is 31-32 weeks. The maximum that Lisa would be allowed to carry would be 36 weeks and 6 days; I think the calendar date would be June 5. As we near the end of April, we are thankfully surprised that things have continued on as far as they have – a month ago, we were just hoping to make it to April. Right now, we’re hoping to make it to May; we hope and pray that in a month we’ll be hoping to make it to June. Every day counts, every week counts.

Needless to say, our hearts are heavy and happy all at once. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 3:4, “[there is] a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance…” I don’t think he knew that those two extreme ends of the spectrum could be felt at the same time.

Difficult as it might be to confess this, I must: God is good, all the time. Thanks again for the prayers.

~Jeff

3 comments:

Mallory said...

Praying for your whole extended family, but especially Tim and Laura.

Also praying for your girls. Been following your blog for a few weeks.

Anonymous said...

Yes, Jeff and Lisa, joy and pain often go hand in hand. What an extreme though in your lives! May God comfort and rejoice in the situations. Yes, He IS good, and yes, it IS all the time!
Love you both,
Tom and Sandi

Jane Klein-Bondy said...

Again praying for you both!
Praying also again for the loss in your family, that is so sad to hear!
The dr's told us at 19 weeks with surgery that we would only probably last until 29 weeks, and we way surpassed that - 36 weeks! So you can do it. Remember only God knows all..!
praying for you all!
Jane