What a whirlwind the past few days have been! It is amazing what 4 days and a LOT of prayers can do!!! Last Thursday, Hope's weekly ultrasound showed that her blood flow had increased...meaning she was showing signs of fetal anemia. This was confirmed with a fetal echo that showed her heart output Had significantly increased. Needless to say, this put us in a little bit of a panic!! I had a follow up today to see how the anemia was progressing and a decision would be made from here to how we would carry out the remaining few weeks. Well...amazingly enough, her numbers were completely normal today...as if nothing were ever wrong!! The doctors couldn't explain it, but I have no doubt that it had everything to do with God's amaizing Grace!

I have always believed in the power of prayer and God's work...but there is no doubt that my faith has been put to the test a LOT lately!! However, it's little miracles like this that leave me no doubt of His existence and that He has a hand in all things!

However, I know things aren't completely safe and probably won't feel that way until she's several months old...but I'm going to continue to have the ultrasounds every few days to monitor the situation. If things change, we will go from there...but until then we are back on track for September 21! 30 days in counting....yay!!!!!

Thank you once again for all of your kind thoughts and support...and sorry for the scare!! :)

This entired pregnancy has been somewhat of a surreal and "out of body experience" it seems.  At first, I was a little afraid to fully grasp the idea of being pregnant again in case something went wrong.  And now that we are nearing the end...I am definitely excited but anxious at the same time.  Since I had no apparent issues in my pregnancy with Emily, it's the birth and beyond that I am most scared of...until now!!  Now, for the most part this pregnancy has gone by just as smoothly (aside from the shots and glucose scare) and I am most thankful for that.  Since 24 weeks gestation, I have gone to the Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist each week for a level II sonogram to measure baby's growth and bloodflow to organs to check for fetal anemia.  Each week the numbers have been normal and Hope has shown no signs of any problems.  Yesterday, that began to change...33 weeks 5 days.  Anemia is essentially a lack of red blood cells, which transport oxygen from the heart...therefore the heart works harder to overcompensate.  This can also cause the heart to enlarge, muscles to thicken, and even leak fluid from valves...none of these things were present (which is good) but her heart production has increased which shows that she is developing fetal anemia. 

We were made aware that Hailey was slightly anemic after she was born, due to the ABO Incompatibility (different blood types that don't "Jive") and was missed with Emily (even though she did have the ABO Incompatibility and Jaundice issue...I feel certain the hospital where she was born was not as knowledged as Baylor was), and most likely Hope is dealing with the same issue...we just have a handle on it at an earlier time...which again I am most thankful for. 

I go back on Monday to see if there has been any progression and will plan to be there every few days to keep an even closer eye on things.  Obviously, depending on the progression (if any), a decision will be made for either an earlier delivery or a Fetal Transfusion (scary sounding but it can buy us more time to get closer to the 38 week mark). 

Sure, we hope for the "everything looks normal" report each time we go, but I am thankful for my doctors who are taking such good care of us and have no doubt that they will do what is best for Hope.  I know that IF she does have to be delivered earlier, that she will be OK and in good hands and that makes me even more thankful that we have gotten this far with no problems. 

Not only is it scary to know that things are "normal" but to know that my body is the one trying to fight her's and causing things to not be normal makes me feel so helpless!

It is no exaggeration that the past 10 months have been extremely emotional for us.  From the birth of our second daughter to her death, and then making the decision to have another baby so soon and all of the things that has entailed...it has been one heck of a ride.  On January 17 of this year, I discovered I was pregnant again, only 3 months and 3 days since the death of our little Emily.  In the weeks following Emily's death, I knew that I wanted to have another baby...the question was: "when?"  B did not want me to even think about it for a while...we agreed we'd discuss it again in 6 months.  The Holidays brought on a great deal of difficulty in the grieving process and it was then that I began digging into the details trying to find out what went wrong.  After meeting with Dr. Ehmer, an OB who has a lot of experience in dealing with women who have suffered losses, after the first of the year and having him reassure me that I COULD go on to have a healthy baby...we knew in our hearts it was time to give it a shot. 

After finding out I was pregnant, followed by finding out about the anticardiolipin syndrome, the twice daily shots, the hesitation for excitment "just in case", continuing to grieve the loss of Emily, etc...etc...etc...we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel!!  All along I have set little milestones, and each time we reach a milestone...I feel a little bit more relieved and a little bit more excited.  Last week, we reached 30 weeks and with that came time to schedule my induction date!!!  With A LOT of monitoring from 2 different doctors, the goal has been to get me to 38 weeks, and then get Hope here and into the nursery to make sure she is healthy and that we will not have a repeat of last year...GOD WILLING!!!!  

Obviously, God plays a much bigger role in all of this than myself and even the doctors...so I just maintain my faith that I will get to watch Hope grow up a healthy little girl!!  We now have a date to look forward to...September 21 and I am soooo ready and soo excited!!  However, my anxiety is still there and I know that anything can happen....but I am so ready for things to play out and to meet my little rainbow baby, Hope!!