Bedrest Again

This afternoon I find myself back in the hospital once again. The doctor called with my protein results --- my level has increased to 2608 from about 1600 a few days ago. We decided we would all feel better if I were in the hospital to get round-the-clock care and monitoring. They repeated all my lab work to see if my organs are being affected by the pre-eclampsia, and thankfully, everything looks good at this point. So, we're in a holding pattern with the baby and me being monitored and me on bedrest.

Gerson is here with me and will be able to spend the night here with me when he wants. I will probably be in the hospital until the baby is born, which the goal is to make it 7 more days at the least.

Thanks for all your prayers and words of encouragement. Please keep praying. As we know more, we will share it with you. 

Tears and Blessings

Yesterday was a day of tears.

The doctor came into the hospital room and told me that according to my protein test, I have entered pre-eclampsia. When a woman has a protein level of 300, she has entered mild pre-eclampsia. When she reaches a protein level of 5000, it considered servere pre-eclampsia and normally labor is induced. My test a few weeks ago came back with my protein level being 180, which relieved us greatly. However, yesterday my protein level was 1600. As you can see, that's quite a jump in a short amount of time.

Where does that leave us?  Today I am doing another 24 hour protein test. The doctor wants to see if my protein level is increasing rapidly or gradually. It the test shows significant increase in proteins, he will re-admit me to the hospital tomorrow. It my protein level has not increased, I will be allowed to come back to Liz's house here in Indy until my doctor's appointment early next week. He will probably do another 24 hour protein test on me at the time and we'll take it from there.

The doctor's goal at this time is to not have to induce labor for another week at least. He is afraid I am quickly advancing toward having to induce labor. I am currently at 31 weeks and his goal is to get me to 32 weeks. Of course, it would be better if we can wait even longer, but if we got to 32 weeks before having to induce, the risks decline significantly. 

I have been in tears as Gerson and I have had to process all this. Having a premature baby isn't what any parent desires. It means long weeks in the neo-natal intensive care and a lot of unknowns as we face the days ahead. I'm pretty much an emotional wreck as I think through it all. Thankfully, Gerson is here by my side and he's been super supportive and we've been able to make decisions together. That has been a huge blessing. In addition, we're getting the best care offered in Indiana for high-risk pregnancy and premature babies. We are thankful for our doctor and his advice and care. We are also thankful that Trent and Liz have once again opened their home to us for however long we need it.

I am reminded, "in all things, give thanks." Although we face uncertain days ahead, we have many blessing for which to be thankful. In addition to what I've mentioned above, we also give thanks to God for each of YOU who are praying for us. We continue to feel God's presence with us and we know He is hearing the prayers of his people. Thank you for helping to carry us through this hard time. We've seen His awesome hand work to get me here, provide a doctor for me and a place for me to live. We have also seen how God brought Gerson here miraculously. We know He's not about to abandon us now.

We're standing on the Rock. Thanks for your continued prayers. We'll keep you posted.

Back to the Hospital

Well, folks, I wish I had better news to share with you. I went to the doctor today and my blood pressure was 160/112 and I've been swollen like a whale. The doctor was concerned and admitted me to the hospital. They are monitoring my blood pressure, running all my lab work again, and giving me steroids for the baby's development in case of a needed early delivery. 

The good news is that Gerson is with me! I can tell you being in the hospital is not terribly exciting, but at least we have this new laptop on which Gerson can keep occupied as he sits by my bed. Please pray for us as we wait for the doctor to get the test results back. Pray that we all have wisdom as we make decisions. Thanks!

Stay tuned . . .

Moving North

A week ago Gerson and I were reunited. . . then there was the great SILENCE on our blog! Many of you (at least you, Keetha) let us have time to be reunited and probably thought that was the reason I hadn't updated my blog. Although we have enjoyed being together, we haven't purposely NOT updated the blog. Rather, we have been super busy moving!

On Wednesday we drove to Marion, Indiana, and stayed with my cousin Amy and her family. Amy has dial-up internet, so I didn't get online very much at all. Hence I got behind on both email and blogging. The good news is that we did begin moving into our little home on the Pioneer Faith Community Church property. My sis came down on Friday after work from Fort Wayne and she did a lot of organizing and cleaning. On Saturday we had a small group of of hard-working people help us move our furniture from storage to our home. (Thanks especially to Lisa and Dan for the pickup, trailer, and hard work!) By Saturday afternoon, we were moved in and ready to spend the night in our "new" house. 

We have so many people to thank --- everyone (you know who you are) has been so helpful and giving. THANK YOU! 

Today (Monday) we traveled back to Indianapolis because tomorrow I have my next doctor's appointment. We will head back north, the Lord willing, tomorrow or Wednesday morning. Now that we are "settled" we will be able to see some of you who are in the area --- like YOU, Keetha! :) So, be on the lookout! We're anxious to see you.

Keep praying for us. Gerson is still adjusting and he has to return to Bolivia in 2 weeks for the defense of his thesis for graduation from the university. He has to study hard in the next few weeks, and in the midst of it all, he's in culture shock! So, keep praying for him.

I will update the blog again if there is anything new from the doctor tomorrow. Continue to pray that the baby will grow, grow, grow. 

Thanks, again!! We appreciate all of you!