Friday, October 22, 2010

24 week ultrasound

Sophia's Little Foot (oh! that's the little thing that kicks at me all day long)
Sophia's pic in 3d

+ Well- we had our 24 week ultrasound yesterday. nothing really new has happened. Her arms, legs and ribs have only grown a little- they are measuring at 17 weeks. Which means she is now at a 7 week delay (last time was 5 weeks). Dr Adelberg says that it's not abnormal for kids in this condition to continue to grow slower and slower and see a bigger delay as time goes along unfortunately.
+ She still has clubbed feet (but does only have 10 toes and 10 fingers- we made them count). she still has a small chin and the thickening that was on her neck, also now shows down thru her chest. you don't normally see babies this young having any fat on them yet. so that is why the fat/skin thickness on her neck and chest are abnormal. her head and abdomen- look great still- they are measuring 24 weeks and everything looks like it is developed normally.
she also explained something interesting to us- that her chest size does matter, but more importantly, it matters that her lungs mature. a kid with a small chest size can survive if their lungs develop enough to function and sustain life. so while size does matter to an extent, more importantly in those last few weeks of the pregnancy it is more important that they develop and mature the best to their ability.
+ there is no way to tell until she is born if her lungs have developed enough to survive, so it will be a waiting game till she arrives. until then we will continue to monthly ultrasounds and measure what growth we can. we also will not be able to tell what kind of dwarfism she has until she arrives, as we are not going to go through any more genetic tests- there are just too many possibilities. our dr is going to send Sophia's case to be discussed at UCLA with some people who like to study and specialize in fetal syndromes and diagnosing what they can. we probably won't hear back any ideas they have for 6-8 weeks. they may not come up with anything significant, but it will be interesting to see what they think.
+ other than that- I did read and absolutely relished every minute of - I Will Carry You by Angie Smith. It is a woman/family that went through almost exactly what we are going through (except their situation was for an absolute fatal diagnosis of a different syndrome). it was so good just to cry and cry and to read someone thinking/feeling every thing we are feeling. it also helped me look at alot of stuff i hadn't thought about yet, but also made me think of stuff that made me sad. i have still been in the phase of being sad i may not get to have my little baby... i hadn't thought of all the big girl/growing up stuff we may potentially miss. all in all one of the best buys i have ever made and i will read and re-read through my pregnancy. Thank you GAYLE!!!
-prayer requests for the next month-
+ pray for aaron and i's relationship
+ pray for Sophia to grow and be healed
+ pray for peace and understanding for us
+ pray for our families, as they are sad too and have been a great support
+thank you for caring and being willing to pray so generously for us. -tristen and aj

7 comments:

  1. i love you all. i will continue to pray.

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  2. I am praying for you guys everyday!

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  3. I am sooooo proud of you and Aaron, I cannot begin to tell you ..... keep the faith sissy!
    love you

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  4. You guys are in my every prayer. She looks pretty darn adorable in there! :-) Enjoy every morsel of your pregnancy. I missed it so much after Hunter was born.

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  5. Hey Tristen, We're praying for you guys! Not sure if you'd be interested but maybe it's worth a try. We just got back from a week at a conference in Georgia called Be In Health, For My Life conference. The website is www.beinhealth.com We went bc we've been dealing with infertility and trying to get pregnant for 2 1/2 yrs. We didn't really know what to expect and we were kinda skeptical and apprehensive about it but it turned out to be absolutely amazing, completely rooted in the Bible, eye-opening, life-changing and very freeing. Anyways, God is moving there in a powerful way and they've seen some pretty amazing miracles. As I read your posts, I can identify with your struggle to keep hoping, to hold onto God's promises that He really will answer whatever we ask for in prayer...

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  6. to long for the miracle to have already occurred, and to wrestle with understanding why at times God heals and at times He doesn't. Basically the pastor who started the Be In Health ministry asked a lot of the same questions and this conference is the fruit of that search. I left there feeling more free, peaceful, loved, and hopeful than I even know how to put into words. I really wish everyone could go. But anyways, check it out. We love you guys and will continue to lift you up in prayer. ~ Jess Sheehan

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