Sunday, October 21, 2007

"Waiting for Our Miracle ..."

Dear Family & Friends:

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.” Psalm 28:7

God is so good all the time. We give thanks to Him for his goodness, care and love, which we have felt through the words, actions and prayers from each of you over the last few days. As we wait on God’s plan for our little Sydney Grace’s arrival into the world, we are confident that He has good plans in store for our family.

We want to provide an update about where things “are” with regard to the pregnancy following the “adventures” of the last four days. Much has changed in such a short span, but the important thing is that as of now, Gretchen and Sydney are healthy and safe. Here’s a recap/update:

After what was to be a routine ultrasound this past Thursday, we found ourselves admitted to St. Joseph’s hospital before being transferred to St. Mary’s hospital in St. Louis. It turned out that Gretchen had several complicating indicators that showed her to be experiencing pre-term labor. We spent three days working with the awesome team of specialists at St. Mary’s and were able to slow Gretchen’s contractions, provide medications that would better protect Sydney should she be born early, and learn that Sydney is healthy in the womb. On Saturday afternoon, we were able to learn, through various tests that Gretchen should not be going into labor in the next two weeks. We were released to home care on the condition that Gretchen basically rest and maintain limited home-based activity (with the exception of special approved Doctor’s release for "special" occassions) for the duration of the pregnancy. In this news, we were extremely blessed. Things could have gone much differently. We give thanks for Gret’s response to the medications and the care of the doctors ~ all of which were evidence of God’s provision in this situation.

Our goal is to keep Sydney in the womb as long as possible (“Cook, Baby, cook!”). The doctor’s at St. Mary’s told us that at 27 weeks (where we currently are), they would give Sydney a “good” chance for survival, but obviously each week that passes improves those numbers and certainly reduces the complications that would accompany such a premature birth. Our goal is to make it at least to 34 weeks, which would allow us a safe delivery at St. Joseph’s here in St. Charles.

So, Leon is now “in charge” of Gretchen’s at-home rest (Gretchen calls it Nazi Hospital Camp), and of course as you all can probably assume, keeping Gret resting and content with limited activity will be something of a challenge (prayers please ;-) Gretchen will be able to maintain her work from home, but is eager for visitors and phone calls! Leon is looking forward to learning to be something of a manly Martha Stewart in the kitchen and has already started collecting recipes. Bailey is assisting Leon by following Gret everywhere and glaring at her if it seems she is too long on her feet.

In all of this, God continues to reveal His care and lasting provision in our lives. We are so thankful for the support and love you have shown to us, and we ask you to continue praying for Sydney as we progress through these next weeks. Please don’t hesitate to call or contact us ~ we are thankful for your loving connection in our lives.

With Joy-filled anticipation of all that is to come ~

Leon, Gretchen & Sydney

7 comments:

Philip said...

Gretchen and Leon,
we've been there and its not fun. Our prayers are with you and everyday that Sydney can "cook" is so helpful.

Dawn said...

As I said elsewhere, you totally kick A.

Elizabeth was on bed rest with Isaiah. I'm quite sure daily foot rubs helped her out immensely. ;)

If you don't Netflix already, consider it. A steady stream of movies will surely help kill some of those down hours.

Praying for you all.

Dawn G.

Brian & Erin said...

Hey there y'all. God is indeed good!! Much peace to the both of you as the two of you await Sydney. Remember, that strength will rise as you wait upon the Lord.

Katrina said...

We love you guys! And all our thoughts and prayers are with the three of you! :)

Kelly said...

Gretchen, Leon, and Sydney,

You all are in my thoughts and prayers! Gods bless! Lots of Love!

Kelly Ross

Susan Steege said...

SOOOOOOO praying!!! SOOOOOOOO trusting!!! SOOOOOOO thankful for the good news so far. Gretchen, please know that simply caring for yourself and Sydney right now is ENOUGH.
Much love,
Sue Steege

amy7252 said...

Good luck with the bed rest, Gretchen. I'm sure it's going to be a tough several weeks, but Sydney will be worth it! -- Amy (Katrina's old college roomie)