The last month and a half we have had way more Dr.’s visits. We see my regular OB and now go to our High Risk Dr. every month. So we probably see one of these Dr.’s every 2 weeks. We love these visits because we always get to see and hear our little Sophie. Our last visit to our regular Dr. I asked again if instead of just using the doppler we could see Sophie, and told her “You know I’m going to be asking this every time we come in!” She smiled and said she didn’t mind and as long as the ultrasound wasn’t being used would be happy to let us see her… She even said “What if Daddy did the ultrasound this time?” So fun! She showed Kevin how to work it and then left us in the room with the ultrasound, just the 3 of us. I filmed it… just one more family video to add to the collection. We didn’t really know what we were doing or what we were seeing half the time but it was really fun…. Dr. Daddy did a great job! He has been with me at every appointment from beginning to now and I am so so thankful for him!
A month ago at our high risk Dr. we were ecstatic to find out that Sophie could swallow! We even got to see her swallow. This is significant because many babies with this condition can’t swallow and this causes a build up of amniotic fluid in the mother which can trigger early labor and be really uncomfortable (imagine being 30 weeks pregnant and looking like you were 42 weeks… that’s how fast it can build up!). If that were to happen then I would have to get the fluid taken out, which doesn’t always solve the problem because it can build up again quickly. So, we were overjoyed to find out she can swallow because while not a guarantee that my fluid levels will stay normal it does make it more likely! So proud of our little Sophie and so thankful to the Lord as we had been praying she could swallow! Here’s a pic of her from our ultrasound a month ago. They can look a little distorted but hopefully you can tell her little nose and mouth and eyes, it’s kinda a profile shot. She likes to hide her face with her hands or arms every time we go in… I think she wants to surprise us with how she looks! Which makes me think she’s just like her daddy… who loves surprises (and is really good at keeping them secret… I hope Sophie takes after her mommy just a little bit and is not quite as good as keeping secrets so we can really see her face sometime soon)!
Sweet Sophie… her hand and arm are over her left side of her face… she’s so cute!
We just went to the high risk Dr. again on Wednesday, hoping, praying we would see God had performed a miracle and created a brain and a skull. He hasn’t yet, but we are still hopeful every time. I think she waved at us this time and we got to see her tongue and her little hands and feet for the first time. So developed! We cherish these moments with her just getting to watch her as the technician explains what we’re looking at and measures everything. She was hiding again, but we still were able to get a few shots of her face. Precious! Everything looks great, fluid levels were normal and she’s busy growing. Aside from her brain and skull every organ and part of her body is growing well and healthy. We are so thankful for that. The Dr. asked us later when we wanted to come back to which I said with a smile “I’d come every week if you’d let us!” He smiled and said “Well, I usually do every 3-4 weeks, so… how about 3 weeks.” We are so grateful to have such kind doctors and nurses! We head to our normal OB next week to have the routine gestational diabetes test, where apparently they pump you with sugar right before the test…so that should be fun!
Here’s a few pics of Sophie from that visit…
She looks like she’s licking her arm!
Sleepy face!
Health wise, I’m doing great! Just normal pregnancy discomforts… pesky congestion that bothers me all day long, growing discomfort as my belly gets bigger, fatigue and I just recently discovered I can’t see my toes when I look straight down! So weird, and funny! But I am thankful the Lord continues to give me energy and strength and the discomforts I experience seem so small compared to the joy of getting to carry Sophie. She’s so worth it!
Some Prayer Requests:
That my diabetes test would come back negative
That Sophie would continue to swallow
That Sophie would continue to grow at a healthy rate and all her organs etc. would be strong and healthy!
That my fluid levels would stay normal
That the Lord would give me energy and strength in the midst of the physical toll of pregnancy and also the emotional toll that we’re walking through
That I would not go into pre-term labor, that she would come in August when she’s due
That the Lord would be forming a brain and skull for her even as we speak. I’m reminded of Romans 4:17-18 of Abraham’s faith to believe the promise God had given Him ” as it is written ‘I have made you the father of many nations’- in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope…” While God has not promised Sophie’s healing to us, He has promised that He is able to call into existence the things that do no exist. We are praying that God would call into existence a brain and a skull for our sweet Sophie. Shadrach, Meshach and Abendnego declared when they were about to be thrown into the burning fire for not bowing down to the kings idols, “Our God, who we serve is able to deliver us out of your hand, O King. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” We know that God is able to deliver Sophie, to heal her, but even if He does not we will continue to praise Him. These men were delivered from the fire, but they did not know that was what God would choose for them. So even though we don’t know what healing God has in store for Sophie, please continue to pray with us that He would heal her physically!
- A Time to be Silent and a Time to Speak - October 29, 2020
- Teaching Them to Hope, Birthday After Birthday. - January 15, 2020
- A Taste of Hope Fulfilled – Briella Dawn’s Birth Story - August 3, 2018
