Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Sonogram tomorrow!

We have so much to be thankful for this year: for the beautiful gift of Baby Boston, for family and friends lifting us up and surrounding us with prayer, for all of the ways God has come near to us, comforted us, and encouraged us, for a wonderful year spent growing closer to each other in our marriage and as a family, and for Clark, who gets more and more amazing every day.

Tomorrow we hope to have another blessing to be thankful for...we have another sonogram at St. Luke's. We are praying for Boston's growth, first and foremost. We are praying that his kidneys look good. We are praying for healthy fluid levels. While these things don't tell us whether or not he has Pierson Syndrome, they allow him to stay in utero longer and continue to grow, which will give him a better chance of survival once he is born. Normal fluid levels tell us that his kidneys are still functioning, meaning that he may not need to be put on dialysis right away after he is born. Normal looking kidneys mean there are no tumors or cysts. And growth means just that...he is growing. At our last visit the doctors told us that one of the primary things they look for when there is a high AFP is a baby who does not grow.

Another thing we are thankful for is that we are going to be able to receive a 3D/4D sonogram and see Baby Boston up close. A week from tomorrow, on December 3rd, we are going to be able to receive this wonderful gift from Jeanette Burlbaw at Prenatal Imaging. We were connected to Jeannette through Alexandra's House. Jeanette offers her services for free to families in situations such as ours. She has scheduled us at the end of the day so we can have plenty of time to see Boston. When I was talking with Jeanette, she was astounded to hear that Boston is sonographically normal. So many babies who face terminal diagnoses also have physical deformities that appear on the sonograms. While Boston's outward physical perfection is a gift from God, it is also something that I struggle with, knowing that my baby who appears perfect could have a life-threatening disease. I want to scream "look at him, there is nothing wrong with him, he is perfect!" But we are so blessed and excited to get to see his perfection up close. We are going to be looking for six fingers and six toes :) and hoping that he looks like Brian. I tell Brian all the time that Boston is going to be a mini-version of him...dark curly hair, lean features, and long legs and arms. I don't know if he believes me. As cute as a mini-Brian would be, who could not want the alternative? Another mini-version of me, who looks just like his big brother :) We will post pictures of Baby Boston next week after the 3D/4D sonogram. To see samples of Jeanette's work, visit her site at: http://www.prenatalimaging.com/

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