The Christmas season is upon us! It sure is a lot different with Addie this year. She understands more, and is so full of holiday cheer you can’t help but smileJ We’ve been so busy this past month! Shopping, cooking for Thanksgiving, working, and we even managed to squeeze in a vacation to Disney World. It was such a joy to watch Addie’s little face light up as she got to meet all her favorite characters, and she has been talking nonstop about the “dancing penguins and goats” on It’s a Small World. We had a great time.
It is now back to cold weather and reality as we settle in for the home stretch of the pregnancy. I’m finally in the third trimester and remembering all the really “fun” things that start happening (I’ll spare you the details!). Meghan is moving like crazy- we can already see little lumps and bumps on my belly as she tries to make room for herself. It’s not always comfortable, but it’s a great reminder of her presence and strength.
We’ve had 2 more ultrasounds and our follow up echocardiogram since my last post. Her ventricle sizes were only mildly increasing until this last ultrasound in which they did have a bigger jump. Her head continues to be about 3-4 weeks bigger than it should be at this stage in her development, which is not necessarily bad since it does allow a little more room for her brain to hopefully develop. The great news is that we found her left kidney. It is smaller and lower than it should be, but it is there. One or both of them are functional since my amniotic fluid levels are normal, and we can see that her bladder is filling. We also got to see her practice breathing on the ultrasound which is pretty coolJ
The echo today showed that her heart is in a slightly different position than normal, and that there was a “trivial” amount of fluid around her heart. The good news is that neither of these things were concerning to the pediatric cardiologist in terms of function. He wants her to have an echo after she is born to be double sure all is well, but he said he was very confident that she will have a normal exam.
The next step is to meet with the neurosurgeon in January, and we will continue to have ultrasounds until she is born. This last one was hard for me as what had been stable for a few weeks suddenly got worse. I knew that the possibility of it getting worse was greater than it staying stable, but it is still hard to see it happen.
I have been doing a lot of reading lately- some research, and some on parenting a child with special needs. I have found great encouragement in both. We are strongly considering going to Duke University
Of course, my greatest source of encouragement continues to be my savior. I struggle with a lot of different emotions as I walk this completely foreign path but He continues to remind me that He is in control, and she is His perfect, purposed creation, and I was chosen to be her mommy- regardless of whether or not I feel up to the task.
“Then the Lord asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.” Exodus 4:11-12.
