Not quite out of the woods yet

In fact, I'm thinking we're actually going to be living IN the woods for a while. We can pitch a tent, keep the food up high in a bear box, and sing songs around the campfire. Care to join us?

We had our follow up appointment at CHOP today, one week after my surgery, and while we hoped to see leaps and bounds of improvement in baby Brigid, what we actually saw was not too different from the scan we had the day after the surgery. Her ventricles in her heart (the bottom two chambers that do the actual "pumping" work) are thickened and a little weakened from having had to handle so much excess blood, and her valves are not closing as well as they should for the same reason. The cardiology team will follow me weekly in hopes of seeing improvement, and there is a medication that I can take that can help her heart (which is amazing to me), if it does not improve well enough over time. She looked beautiful, though, and was moving all over. I've been feeling her kick and move so much more since they removed the excess fluid and it's been a reassuring feeling that's reminding me every day that we just need to take things one day at a time. Every day that I carry her and feel those kicks is a blessing.

The scan also showed something that we knew was a possible effect of the surgery. That is, that my amniotic sac has detached from the chorion it is usually fused to, and fluid has gotten behind it. This does not really affect the baby at all, I am told; she has enough fluid for herself. The risk is that it gives me a greater potential for premature labor, and so I am to stay on bed rest for the entire remainder of the pregnancy. The longer this period is, of course, the better. This is quite daunting, but again, something we'll have to handle one day at a time.

We are so grateful for meals, childcare and offers of helping with chores and errands that have been pouring in. It is incredibly humbling to have someone over to your home for the first time and to watch them vacuum your living room while you're sitting on the couch. Patrick and I like to be self-sufficient, both individually and within our family. "No thanks - we can handle it!" But this may be part of the lesson that the Lord is trying to teach us - to humble ourselves and ask others to help us, because the reality is, we don't have another choice right now.