negative test :o)

well today we got some good news.... not great but definitely very good. the FGFR3 test was negative- which rules out 2 very fatal forms of dwarfism/dysplasia. what is good is that this isn't a possibility for the diagnosis, what is bad is that we still don't know what she necessarily has. part of me feels like i can breath a little better, just knowing the results. i think it also gives me a new since of hope. if the test had been positive it would have been a lot harder for me to continue to hope for a miracle when a DNA test points to a specific diagnosis. at this point, we are just watching for her ribs to grow, for we are not out of the risk of this being fatal if they do not grow big enough for her lungs to grow.

with this open door, diagnosis wise, i feel i can give myself the okay to hope for something better and to really believe that there is the opportunity for God to do something bigger than i ever expect. it has been really hard to pray as God asks that "whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours", as i don't want to set myself up for disappointment and also it is hard as a nurse to get past all the medical stuff. i really think that is why God does surround us with community to pray when we can't pray, or when we don't know what to pray for. like AJ i want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kind words, thoughts and prayers.

next up- is for me to get an echo on the baby's heart, should happen in the next week or 2. and then on Oct 22 we get another ultrasound and will find out how she has grown over the past month. my tummy is getting bigger and firmer so i hope this means she is at least continuing to grow. she continues to kick and flip and generally have a party in there, so I feel assured she is generally doing well.

our dr did present her at a case conference last friday, where all the doctors said they really thought it would be one of the diagnosis this test was testing for (so they all thought it would be positive), but luckily for us it wasn't. Sophia is all ready proving them wrong, and i praise God that he is all ready answering prayers. the negative of them all thinking it was going to be one of these diagnosis, is that they don't have any other real ideas for us at this point. but that i can handle.

luckily God has given me a real since of peace at this point and i feel confident he has this in his hands and is in control of her growth. i don't know how i could do this any other way.

our current prayers-

+ that God heals her and makes her ribs grow

+ that AJ can find peace and some understanding

+ that our insurance will pay as many of these bills in full, as much as possible

+ provide knowledge to our doctors performing the tests over the next month

i also just want to brag a little about how amazing my husband is. as some of you know, he got picked up as a volunteer at a local fire department at the beginning of sept (that will hopefully lead to our dream of him working as a fireman somewhere full time). on sept 25, the day after we got our ultrasounds and bad news, he had to take a really hard test (that has a 75% fail rate) that was essential to him becoming a firefighter. he got a 94% percent and passed his test with an amazingly high score. i could not be more proud of him for being able to focus and do something like that after getting such devastating news the day before. God was surely with him and taking care of him. yay!

hope this isn't too much to take in, thank you for taking time to care and read about us and our precious baby.

sincerely, tristen