Weekend of CANDY!

Well, we had a very fun and very full weekend.  Friday Lauren and I got up early and headed to an eye doctor appointment for her.  Brad had been noticing her squinting a lot and when reading books she always gets so close to see the pictures.  So, the doctor said she needed glasses, she is near sighted.  She has to wait about ten days for her glasses to come in but she is excited about them.  Brad and  I were laughing later about all the times we would tell Lauren to "look way over there"  to see something and we had no idea the poor kid couldn't see. 



After her appointment we stopped by the church to see Brad.  He, the childrens' pastor, and some great volunteers were building the giant haystack for later that night.  Everyone had a great time at the Giant Haystack that night.  There was a corn crib, an inflatable obstacle course and of course the haystack.  The kids got to find balls in the haystack and wins prizes depending on what ball they found.  Very entertaining to watch.

Saturday, we met some friends at the parade.  Lauren got to dress up in her costume and collect candy.  It was a fun parade to watch and the weather was beautiful.  After the parade was over we hurried home to eat and then headed back out to take our youth to a corn maze.  I always love going to the corn maze, and of course we take our teens at night so they can scare each other the whole time.  Lauren went with us this year.  I did make it though the maze one time, although I was wondering if we would ever find our way out.  It was a huge corn maze.  After that I let Brad stick with running through the corn and scaring the teenagers and I took Lauren to the rope maze and soybean maze.

Finally tonight after church we headed out to do a little trick or treating with some friends and then ended the night checking how much candy the kids collected and eating pizza.  Like I said, a fun and full weekend.

Meet baby Owen Joseph

God is our Healer! 

We had our weekly appointment today.  And by the title you have probably guessed that baby is a BOY!

Owen's heart beat is still just as strong as it has always been.  We had another increase in the fluid (5.9 last week to 7.3 this week), the number they are looking for is 15; we thank God for the increase.  Please keep praying for more.  And they thought they could see kidneys today.  Overall it was a great report!

Now here is the best part...  After the ultrasound I had to go see the doctor.  Before I met with the doctor, I went to the bathroom and while I was in the bathroom, Brad could hear the doctor and ultrasound tech talking.  They were asking each other if either one had ever seen a case like this where there is an increase in fluid after there being almost none.  So then the doctor comes in to see Brad and me.  He told us that he doesn't know why there is an increase; kidneys don't just start working after not working.  It is not heard of that fluid will increase after being so low.  He just kept saying he didn't know how or why this is happening but it is good.  I told the doctor that I knew why, and Brad said, “There are people all over this country praying for our baby.”  Of course this whole conversation is going on with the biggest smiles on our faces, because we know that God's hand is on this child and He is bringing the healing where humanly there is no way.  

I can remember two weeks ago when Brad and I were told that our baby would not survive and the doctors could not do anything to help or prevent our baby's death.  But they would bring us in every week to do ultrasounds and watch.  I just thought at that moment that at one of these ultra sounds we would see the fluid increase and the doctors and nurses would get to witness the testimony of God's healing power. 

We are twenty-one weeks and we have a long way to go still, and we continue to pray for the fluid to keep increasing and that God would give us a perfectly healthy baby.  But, Brad and I also thank and praise God for this trial that is teaching us to trust in and rely on Him more than we ever have.

Lauren's in Tumbling

We started Lauren in a tumbling class in September.  She really loves it.  Her favorite thing is the back rolls and learning to do head stands.  She practices a lot here at home too!

You might have already read this, but I just wanted to post them incase someone hasn't or didn't know.

This one was from Oct. 18th...

Brad and I would like to ask all of you to pray for our baby.

I’m 20 weeks pregnant and we found out last week that there is very little amniotic fluid around the baby.  The Doctors aren’t completely sure why this has happen, but whatever the reason the outcome is the same.  There is nothing  the docs can do and they have given our baby no chance of making.  The plan is now to go in every week and have an ultrasound to check on the baby, until the baby passes away.

Brad and I are both believing that God can and will do a miracle in our baby’s life.  We have placed our little one in His hands and are trusting Him to bring healing where it is needed and at one of these ultrasounds we are going to see normal fluid levels around the baby.  And we are praying that our baby is going to be a perfect, healthy baby.

We have an ultrasound tomorrow (Tuesday) at 9am, and would ask you to be lifting our little baby up in prayer.  Thank you.

And this was from Oct. 19th...

God is good.

We had our appointment this morning and it went well.  Baby’s heart beat is strong and the fluid has a little more than doubled since last week (fluid measured 2.5 last week and 5.9 this week).  Thank you Jesus!  We still need to see more fluid to be in the normal range, but we are believing God to continue this miracle. 

We still have not been able to see or find baby’s kidneys, which is the big factor in making amniotic fluid.  Baby sits very low and was in a difficult position to see, so that could be the reason for not finding them.

Thank you, everyone of you, for all your prayers for our little one.  We know that God has our baby in his hands and He is and will continue to bring healing.  Please do pray with us this week for the fluid to increase and that the kidneys will be there in the next ultrasound.

I will do my best to update whenever we find out anything new with the baby.  Brad and I believe strongly in the power of prayer and that God is more than able to bring healing to our little one.  We believe and are thankful that through this trial God's greatness and love will be shown to us and to others.