The Sovereignty of God and The Beauty of Life

So, today has been quite the overwhelming, scary, and grace filled day. I had a scheduled sonogram at my OBGYN's office that she likes to do at the beginning of the 9th month. After several nights of little sleep and days of a very uncomfortable back ache mixed in with a few contractions, my hope for the day was a baby that was ready to come out! In our sono we were assured that Charlotte is in fact still Charlotte, and not a boy, which is always good:) Her head was way down, so the sonographer had a tough time getting a good measurement but gave us an approximate weight of 4lb 13oz, which I thought was a little on the small side.

Once we saw the doc, she went through all of the basics and then came back to our sonogram. Apparently a normal range of amniotic fluid is 5-25 cm. According to my sono, I had 44 cm! This would explain how large my belly is as well as the ridiculous pain I have had. Also, the size of Charlotte's head was concerning, so the doctor referred me to the specialist upstairs and said to expect a phone call notifying me of my appt. Thinking it would be awhile, Justin and I went out to the car and just sat for a few minutes to soak things in. I had a good cry, we had some good prayer time, and reminded each other that this is no surprise to our good God, no matter the outcome and began to drive to my grandma's house to see the girls. After getting a few minutes away, the dr's office called and said they could get us in now! We took a deep breath and turned around, realizing we may get some answers sooner rather than later. Following filling out a great deal of paper work, insuring that Justin and I are not cousins and such, we waited a good hour or so, during which we texted a few friends and were so encouraged by their responses guaranteeing our God's goodness and faithfulness:)

When we got back to see the dr (who "randomly" is the brother in law of one of our friends), I just had a great peace that only the sovereignty of God brings. HE is GOOD, and what HE does is GOOD- we will know His truth and character more intimately because of today's events! HE loves Charlotte Jane more than we could ever imagine- she is HIS! The sonogram revealed that Charlotte's heart, kidneys, tummy, spine, arms, and legs were all in good shape. The numbers on the fluid though were even more staggering this go round- my measurements were over 50 cm! The doc was rather shocked that I hadn't yet gone into labor due to this HIGH amount of fluid. He also struggled to get a good look at Charlie's brain because of how low her head is positioned as well as the fact that the skull has already formed pretty thickly around her brain. The only good measurement he got was one ventricle that measured 1.25cm, with 1 cm being normal. Otherwise though, her head is pretty small compared to what it should be at this point.

So, what does all of this mean? Well, basically we have a whole lot of possibilities and very few answers. The large amount of fluid is likely related to Charlotte's inability to process it properly. It is highly likely that Charlotte will be born with some type of genetic disorder like down syndrome (or any number of genetic disorders, ranging in severity from mild to severe). I will likely not carry her for much longer considering the amount of fluid I am carrying (like a water balloon filled beyond capacity... it's only a matter of time!).

Prayer Requests:

-we would continue to trust the goodness of our God.

-for a safe delivery (there are possible complications due to so much fluid)

-God to prepare our hearts for whatever the outcome is for our sweet baby girl!

-God would get the glory in Charlotte's life- that He would be made much of in our struggles and in our rejoicing

-for comfort for Ang physically until Charlotte arrives

Thank you so much for walking this road with us. It is in times like these that the beauty of the Body of Christ is so very evident!