Char....'s Journey : Sweet Charlie

When I told Andrew that Charlotte was a boy he screamed, "You lied to me!" Without thinking I said, "They lied to me!" But with time the shock has somewhat worn off for all of us and he keeps reminding me that the boys will outnumber the girls and that his name IS Charlie. I'm not up for "lying" to him again so...Charles it is!

So it is official, his name is Charles "free man" Amos "to carry; borne by God" I love the name Amos. It seems to embody the choice we made to carry him regardless of the prognosis and a reminder that he is truly borne by God. There are a lot of details in this story but our main theme has to be trusting and believing in God.

The other day Jared said I was Facebook picture happy. Ha! He is right and when I really thought about it I realized it is because I want to show that we are still living, still breathing and having some fun along the way. Thanksgiving break is a great example. It was a wonderful yet exhausting time. We got to see almost all of our extended family and there were plenty of fun activities along the way. Two yummy Thanksgiving dinners, watching Baylor beat Tech at Cowboys stadium, going to the Gaylord for ICE and the snow tubes and most importantly lots of family time. Someday, regardless of the final outcome of our journey, when I reread these posts I want to remember that we had a lot of fun with Charlie in between the tears and pain.

As far as details, Charlie is doing about the same. The fluid levels are low but stabilized. He weighed 2lbs 10oz at 32 weeks. They only measure every 3 weeks even though I have a weekly sonogram. Monday was 33 weeks and there was still completely normal blood flow through the umbilical cord and everything looked about the same. At 35 weeks they will measure again and then the team of doctors will discuss the best options. We want to wait at least 3 more weeks and hopefully 6. But if he isn't growing well at 35 weeks they might choose to deliver. It's all a balancing act and waiting game.

Dr. Bleich did mention that Braxton Hicks contractions are completely normal but in situation with low fluid they often put pressure on the umbilical cord limiting the blood flow and slowing the baby's heart rate. I took this as a sign to slow myself down :) I cut back or eliminated all the activities I could and I am just trying to remind myself that our main priority is giving Charlie the best possible chance at a miracle. Plus I seem to be making a lot of mistakes lately like sleeping through kindergarten pickup, thinking preschool started at 9:30 instead of 9 and missing my dentist appointment...twice! I am trying to take my dear friend Jennifer's advice and give myself some grace but I am not usually this absent minded and it feels a little scary. Wonder if this is what it is like when you get older? Do you even realize it? I'm hoping I won't care as much by then and just ditch the details and enjoy life!!