Thursday, April 8, 2010

Timeline

Rather than give a traditional update, I thought it might be helpful to put a few events in sequential order over the past week… as you’ll see, there have been some ups and downs.

Saturday, April 3 – Despite our deepest wishes, my sister and her husband (Laura and Tim) didn’t find out the gender of their baby from their ultrasound today. Both my sister Lisa and I have had a boy then a girl, and Laura already had a boy… so we figured it may be a girl. We were bummed with them that they weren’t able to find out.

Sunday, April 4 – It’s Easter Sunday! I woke Kruesie up by crawling into his bed and telling him, “The tomb is empty! Jesus rose from the grave!” We finished the Resurrection Eggs and found the last egg – like Jesus’ tomb – was empty, too. Tim and Laura worshipped with us at our church, and their son Josiah did really well in nursery. We had my parents, Tim, Laura, Josiah, and my sister Lisa, her husband Rob, and their kids – Austin and Kaitlyn – over for Easter dinner/hanging out. It was a blessing that everyone came (and brought the food!) so that our family could see extended family for Easter – otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to see anyone because of Lisa’s bedrest. I finished the day by preaching for the evening worship service.

Monday, April 5 – We found out from Laura that their doctors had some concerns and wanted a level 2 ultrasound. It turns out that there was some fluid in the abdomen of her baby. They set up an appointment at the University of Chicago for 8:30 Thursday morning – the exact same time as US! We were eager to see some familiar (or should I say “family”?) faces there.

Tuesday, April 6 – Lisa got a phone call to inform her that she didn’t pass her 3-hour glucose test either. She has gestational diabetes. =( We set another appointment Thursday morning to meet with a nurse about taking her blood sugar counts 4 times per day and how to manage her blood sugar through changing her diet. Hmm.

Today, April 8 – We saw Tim and Laura as soon as we arrived in the waiting area. They were filling out some paperwork and waiting to get the ultrasound. We were called in first, and Linda began the ultrasound/biophysical exam. The biophysical exam measured movement in each of the babies, pre-breathing, and a couple other things… I don’t remember the details, but I DO remember that each of our girls scored 8/8. I teased that they have a perfect 4.0 GPA. =) Both girls had good fluid levels, the MCA levels looked good, and we found out that A gain one ounce and B gained eight ounces. (More on that later). Lisa had her first non-stress test and those results looked good, too.

We went back out in the waiting area to check-in for the doctor, and we saw Tim and Laura out there. Sadly, Laura had very rough news to share with us. The counselor told them that there was fluid not only in the abdomen but also in the neck and other parts of the body. She said that it was likely cystic hygroma… there’s only a ten percent survival rate for that diagnosis. More discouraging was the fact that there were hydrops throughout the body – pockets of fluid just under the surface of the skin. There’s a virtually 100 percent mortality rate for this condition. The counselor also mentioned the possibility of Turner Syndrome. The pregnancy will continue until her baby is delivered for what will likely be a very short life outside the womb. We hugged Tim and Laura and tried to just be there for them as they shared this sad news. They – and we – would appreciate your prayers for them.

After we saw them off, we saw the doctor to discuss our results. He was very happy. He said that the discrepancy in growth this week isn’t anything to be concerned about. He said that the MCA levels look good enough that we should have at least 2-3 more weeks without any problems. We’re at 28 weeks, 4 days today, and he seemed very relieved about the likelihood of being able to see him next week at (nearly) 30 weeks. A couple months ago that number seemed impossible. Our doctors and nurses were very sympathetic, too, about what Tim and Laura are going through… they genuinely were concerned about how Lisa was doing, and they listened compassionately to the situation.

So our day ends with heavy hearts. We’re bringing Tim and Laura and Josiah before God in our prayers. We explained what was going on to our 3.5 year old son, Kruesie, and he suggested that we pray for them. So we did with him. Later, I told him that that’s the best thing we can do for them right now. We rejoice at our good report, too… but mainly we mourn with our extended family.

Thanks for praying with us.

~Jeff

2 comments:

Nana and Papa said...

Dear Jeff and Lisa,
We rejoiced at your news and were so saddened at your sister's news. We will pray for God's great comfort and peace for them and all your family.
Love, Phil and Nancy

Anonymous said...

I've been lifting Tim, Laura and Josiah up in prayer since I read the update late Thursday night. I will be praying for Lisa's pregnancy to continue as long as possible and for her gestational diabetes to not cause any concern for her or the girls. Thanks so much for the continued updates.
~Karen C.