Praises and Prayer Requests

Our Sweet Baby!

I know you all must be dying to know what we are having this time. Well, we almost didn't make the appointment because I got violently ill with a stomach virus Tuesday night. Luckily it was short lived and I'm just exhausted from being up all night, but no longer throwing up. In the above picture our baby is using the placenta (the darker colored area) as a pillow. The baby was really squished in there and it was a very long ultrasound appointment because the technician had a hard time getting the baby to move and getting all the views needed to confirm a healthy baby.

We were able to find out that we are having a boy! We are all thrilled, but Chandler is warming to the idea of another brother because he had his heart set (as much as one can at three years old) on a sister. It was really special that my dad came to the appointment (he was off for Veteran's Day) and has never come to any appointments like this before. We will name the baby Maverick Robert (Robert is my Dad's name) and he was really touched.

Now for the prayer requests:
Luckily we do not have the complication of a single umbilical artery like we had with both boys, so that is a HUGE relief. One of the kidneys is measuring large at this point which is indicating reflux of urine from the bladder back into the kidney. This is fine in utero, but if the problem persists once the baby is born, bacteria would be easily introduced into the kidney which could seriously damage it. Worst case scenario would be surgery after Maverick is born. The good news is we are scheduled for a third trimester ultrasound (2/1/11) to check the kidney's size. In 90% of cases, this issue will have resolved by this point. We will be praying for that. If it is still measuring large, Maverick will need to go on antibiotics as soon as he is born and then based on the severity, surgery would be considered. Thank you so much for your prayer for this to resolve on it's own. I know the Lord is the ultimate healer and I put all my faith in him!

Secondly, as I mentioned a terrible virus is making it's way through our house. I am pretty much over it, except for exhaustion, but now Chandler has been up all night puking at least once an hour. More than likely it's only a matter of time until Brighton and/or Derek start. Alice (Derek's grandmother) came to help me on Wednesday as I was useless and now she also has the virus and has been sick since noon yesterday. My parents watched the boys for us on Thursday night, so hopefully they don't get it as well, or the family that watched our boys (THANK YOU JENNIFER) while we were at the ultrasound appointment. Please pray that by some miracle at least Derek doesn't also get it, or that this passes quickly and I can get some rest. I was up late trying to disinfect kitchen, bathroom, etc...and also have several (puked on) loads of laundry to catch up on.

Thanks again for your prayers.

Here's one last picture of Maverick. It's hard to tell for those of you not familiar with looking at ultrasound pictures, but Maverick has both of his feet and both hands up in front of his face. Looks like we may have a gymnast!

Also, Chandler is already much happier today (than he was yesterday) about his new baby brother. Yesterday he insisted that he was having a sister and if it was a brother he was calling him "Indiana Jones". Today it's "Maverick" so that's a good start :)