We've had an eventful past week. Amanda got sick over Christmas with a stomach virus and was admitted to labor and delivery. We spent Christmas Eve in a hospital room while she went through three bags of fluid because she was dehydrated. Luckily, she felt better the next morning and we were able to be home around noon on Christmas day. While there, she spent many hours hooked up to the fetal monitor and Brooklyn checked out great the whole time! It's always fun to listen to your baby's heartbeat! Amanda seems to be back to normal now and only speaks of normal aches and pains related to pregnancy. Brooklyn has been moving a lot and moving her mom's whole stomach at times! It's a fun thing to watch!
Yesterday, Amanda and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. It's been a wild ride over these past 4 years! We are praying, that as we approach 2011, that this year brings a new set of adventures and happiness. Mostly: we pray for health in our family, especially with both our girls. Maddie is growing and changing daily. She's awesome and we can't wait to see her fill the rold of big sister! Brooklyn is doing her own thing as well, and we are anxious to be a part of her arrival into this world.
And a reminder:
Our next doctor's appointment is January 10th. Be praying with us and we find out more answers to our questions, and hopefully gain a better understanding of what the plan will be over these next few months!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Preparation
We have been busy around the Crouse House these past few days! We've all been pitching in to get ready for our newest baby girl! After our recent news, we were slightly hesitant to go ahead with all our many plans of baby preparation. But after talking with a bunch of people, we were encouraged to carry on because "SHE WILL MAKE IT HERE" and "IT'S ALL GOING TO BE OK"! And when she does get here...she's going to need some things. So we went to Babies R Us and registered for a few things we either did not get with Maddie, or just needed again (towels, rags, new bottles, bibs, etc...). We also bought the bedding for her crib. We wanted something different than Maddie had (which was shades of purple and flowers) and something unique to Brooklyn. We went with something very elegant in the shades of pink and brown. It's so pretty, just like our girls! We've also been washing and going through all Maddie's baby clothes and getting those set up. There is a huge chance that Brooklyn will have to come earlier than her due date, therefore being a significantly smaller baby than Maddie. But for now, we are getting set up and matching the clothes up with the right season, etc...
Here are a few recent pictures:
Raising the mattress up on the crib. Maddie was so excited to be able to help!
Close up picture of the bedding.
Please keep praying for Brooklyn as she continues to grow along with her safe arrival. Pray for daddy, mommy and Maddie too. We are all so ready to meet her-happy and healthy!
Here are a few recent pictures:
Raising the mattress up on the crib. Maddie was so excited to be able to help!
Close up picture of the bedding.
Please keep praying for Brooklyn as she continues to grow along with her safe arrival. Pray for daddy, mommy and Maddie too. We are all so ready to meet her-happy and healthy!
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Sunday Morning-A Blog From Mommy
Jaime is usually the one that blogs, but I thought I would take a stab at it too...
I couldn't even begin to tell you how many times I heard the word HOPE mentioned in church this morning. Coincidence? I don't think so! I think God was doing what God does best and was speaking to our family in a very profound way. It was a simple message and something that we all know, as Christians, yet still struggle with-as imperfect human beings. I can't speak for Jaime but I know that I struggle in huge ways and live many days in complete and total fear.
We talked about Mary and how she must have felt when she found out that she, a virgin, was carrying the Messiah. Then we talked about Joseph. Mary was pledged to be his wife, and suddenly, she's carrying a child that is not his own. What an enormous and impossible situation that must have felt like. Yet, God worked through all the things that man saw to be impossible. God used the willingness of Mary and Joseph to be vessels to help carry out His perfect plan. A Saviour was born, only to later hang on a cross, and die for you and me. Sometimes, I can't wrap my mind around the fact that our Heavenly Father actually sent His baby to die for me. And that that was the plan ALL along. What a sacrifice. Wow.
The underlying theme all morning long was faith, trust, hope, and living a life to the absolute fullest-regardless of the current circumstance. Trusting that not only CAN God do amazing things, but he also WILL, if He so chooses. That's a very, very hard thing to comprehend at times; especially in the middle of complete and total fear and uncertainty. And even in the midst of all that, He is in complete control and has a plan.
It really was a great lesson and great morning of worship. But don't think that just because I KNOW these things means that they just come naturally to me, because they don't necessarily. I'm scared....all the time. I can't seem to let go of my fears and doubts and 100% trust that God is taking care of me. I am as imperfect as they come. But a work-in-progress, I hope. Through many miscarriages and now a high-risk pregnancy, I know that God is trying to teach me and Jaime something huge. I just don't know exactly what it is and sometimes that's the part that frustrates me so much.
Some praises are:
1. That this condition has been diagnosed!! That really is a big, big thing!
2. A great doctor-that has our best interest at heart.
3. Each and every kick that is felt. Just a reminder of how precious life is and how much fun being pregnant can be. I love every second of it.
4. That it's a girl! Anything would have been perfectly loved after so many losses-but I secretly hoped for another little girl. A sister for Maddie sounded so perfect to me!
Some specific prayer requests right now are:
1. My job. It's a high demanding, extremely stressful job. Pray that over these remaining weeks and months, that I am able to easily brush off the stresses of work each day and focus on the things that matter most with this pregnancy, which is taking care of Brooklyn and me.
2. Pray for the struggles Jaime and I deal with on a daily basis, that all result from our fears and inadequacies.
3. Pray for continued answers to our many questions and an appropriate plan to deliver our little girl safely.
4. Pray for Dr. Harris. That God guides each and every move she makes when caring for me during this pregnancy.
I couldn't even begin to tell you how many times I heard the word HOPE mentioned in church this morning. Coincidence? I don't think so! I think God was doing what God does best and was speaking to our family in a very profound way. It was a simple message and something that we all know, as Christians, yet still struggle with-as imperfect human beings. I can't speak for Jaime but I know that I struggle in huge ways and live many days in complete and total fear.
We talked about Mary and how she must have felt when she found out that she, a virgin, was carrying the Messiah. Then we talked about Joseph. Mary was pledged to be his wife, and suddenly, she's carrying a child that is not his own. What an enormous and impossible situation that must have felt like. Yet, God worked through all the things that man saw to be impossible. God used the willingness of Mary and Joseph to be vessels to help carry out His perfect plan. A Saviour was born, only to later hang on a cross, and die for you and me. Sometimes, I can't wrap my mind around the fact that our Heavenly Father actually sent His baby to die for me. And that that was the plan ALL along. What a sacrifice. Wow.
The underlying theme all morning long was faith, trust, hope, and living a life to the absolute fullest-regardless of the current circumstance. Trusting that not only CAN God do amazing things, but he also WILL, if He so chooses. That's a very, very hard thing to comprehend at times; especially in the middle of complete and total fear and uncertainty. And even in the midst of all that, He is in complete control and has a plan.
It really was a great lesson and great morning of worship. But don't think that just because I KNOW these things means that they just come naturally to me, because they don't necessarily. I'm scared....all the time. I can't seem to let go of my fears and doubts and 100% trust that God is taking care of me. I am as imperfect as they come. But a work-in-progress, I hope. Through many miscarriages and now a high-risk pregnancy, I know that God is trying to teach me and Jaime something huge. I just don't know exactly what it is and sometimes that's the part that frustrates me so much.
Some praises are:
1. That this condition has been diagnosed!! That really is a big, big thing!
2. A great doctor-that has our best interest at heart.
3. Each and every kick that is felt. Just a reminder of how precious life is and how much fun being pregnant can be. I love every second of it.
4. That it's a girl! Anything would have been perfectly loved after so many losses-but I secretly hoped for another little girl. A sister for Maddie sounded so perfect to me!
Some specific prayer requests right now are:
1. My job. It's a high demanding, extremely stressful job. Pray that over these remaining weeks and months, that I am able to easily brush off the stresses of work each day and focus on the things that matter most with this pregnancy, which is taking care of Brooklyn and me.
2. Pray for the struggles Jaime and I deal with on a daily basis, that all result from our fears and inadequacies.
3. Pray for continued answers to our many questions and an appropriate plan to deliver our little girl safely.
4. Pray for Dr. Harris. That God guides each and every move she makes when caring for me during this pregnancy.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Outpouring of Support
We have been overwhelmed with the support from family and friends over the last 48 hours since we have learned about the complications of our pregnancy. Thank you for all the love and encouraging words. We thank you for all the phone calls, text messages, emails, and comments on facebook.
A verse that we have been talking about and the Lord has been speaking to us through is Hebrews 11:1. Paul is getting ready to talk about all the of people in the bible who were able to overcome seemingly unovercomable circumstances by exhibiting faith in God. This is the definition Paul gives to faith and we think it is very fitting for our situation.
'Now faith is confidence in what we HOPE for and assurances about what we do not see.'
-Hebrews 11:1
Jaime also found another verse this morning and would love to share it with y'all.
'The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him.'
- Nahum 1:7
We hope this verse can be encouragement to all who are experiencing trouble right now.
Thank you all again for all of the kind words and prayers. It means a whole lot to our family to know we have Christ-like people in our lives who care about us and are lifting us up to our heavenly Father.
A verse that we have been talking about and the Lord has been speaking to us through is Hebrews 11:1. Paul is getting ready to talk about all the of people in the bible who were able to overcome seemingly unovercomable circumstances by exhibiting faith in God. This is the definition Paul gives to faith and we think it is very fitting for our situation.
'Now faith is confidence in what we HOPE for and assurances about what we do not see.'
-Hebrews 11:1
Jaime also found another verse this morning and would love to share it with y'all.
'The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him.'
- Nahum 1:7
We hope this verse can be encouragement to all who are experiencing trouble right now.
Thank you all again for all of the kind words and prayers. It means a whole lot to our family to know we have Christ-like people in our lives who care about us and are lifting us up to our heavenly Father.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Our World Was Turned Upside Down
24 hours ago we were having a completely normal pregnancy. Oh my, how one visit to the doctor can change things entirely.
A little background about our family is that my wife and I have a 2 and half year old daughter named Madison Elizabeth. Since her birth in March of 2008, we have been trying to have another child. Over the past 20 months we have concieved a total of four times with three of the pregancies ending in miscarriage. We are currently pregnant with a little girl and are 22 weeks along.
That brings us to a routine sonogram that was supposed to verify the gender of our baby yesterday. We found out that the umbilical cord of the baby wasn't inserted to the placenta correctly and there are complications that can arise during labor or it can cause growth restriction due to lack of essential nutrients being transfered from mother to baby. The technical term is velamentous cord insertion or VCI. Upon doing some research I have learned that this can be a fatal complication if undiagnosed. There is an additional factor that can be in conjunction with VCI's and it is called vasa previa. At this point in our pregnancy, we aren't sure if we have vasa previa, but we know for sure we do have a VCI. Vasa previa is where not only the umbilical cord is not inserted correctly, but exposed vessels that contain blood is lying near or across the cervix. If this isn't recognized on an ultrasound or sonogram, when the mother goes into labor and the cervix opens it can rupture those vessels and the baby will bleed out in a matter of seconds.
Due to the increased risk in this pregnancy we will having imaging done at every subsequent office visit to monitor the progress of the baby and to look at how the VCI is progressing. We will also have other tests done and will report more than a normal pregnant woman would. There is even a possibility that Brooklyn will need to be delivered early via c-section. Please be praying for our family. We will be going back for our next office visit Monday, January 10th.
A little background about our family is that my wife and I have a 2 and half year old daughter named Madison Elizabeth. Since her birth in March of 2008, we have been trying to have another child. Over the past 20 months we have concieved a total of four times with three of the pregancies ending in miscarriage. We are currently pregnant with a little girl and are 22 weeks along.
That brings us to a routine sonogram that was supposed to verify the gender of our baby yesterday. We found out that the umbilical cord of the baby wasn't inserted to the placenta correctly and there are complications that can arise during labor or it can cause growth restriction due to lack of essential nutrients being transfered from mother to baby. The technical term is velamentous cord insertion or VCI. Upon doing some research I have learned that this can be a fatal complication if undiagnosed. There is an additional factor that can be in conjunction with VCI's and it is called vasa previa. At this point in our pregnancy, we aren't sure if we have vasa previa, but we know for sure we do have a VCI. Vasa previa is where not only the umbilical cord is not inserted correctly, but exposed vessels that contain blood is lying near or across the cervix. If this isn't recognized on an ultrasound or sonogram, when the mother goes into labor and the cervix opens it can rupture those vessels and the baby will bleed out in a matter of seconds.
Due to the increased risk in this pregnancy we will having imaging done at every subsequent office visit to monitor the progress of the baby and to look at how the VCI is progressing. We will also have other tests done and will report more than a normal pregnant woman would. There is even a possibility that Brooklyn will need to be delivered early via c-section. Please be praying for our family. We will be going back for our next office visit Monday, January 10th.
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