23 weeks!

Today is 23 weeks!! God is so good! Tomorrow I will have another scan to check that there have been no changes in cervical length. I still haven't had any contractions, so we are optomistic that things will be unchanged, and with continued bed rest, P3 will have a lovely home for several more months to grow and develop!

So today I went to church...no, not really, but I watched Andy's last week's message...The series is called "5 Things that God uses to Grow your Faith" and I was so looking forward to the series. The introduction was great, and the cool thing is that there are 5 weeks of "the things" and that will take me right up to our 28th week...pretty incredible. So, without giving away too much (you can check out the series at http://www.fivethingsgoduses.com/) I was amazed to see just how many of those "things" we have been experiencing in the past 2 weeks. Obviously, we are in the middle of some pretty "pivotal circumstances" and we believe that God has had His hand on everything that has and will happen, including our doctors. Greg and I were struggling through our decision to do the cerclage procedure or not and Dr. Eller, very patiently and compassionately, reviewed everything with us. It was as if God had hand-picked Him to be our surgeon and I can't tell you how freeing it is to know that your surgeon is trusting God with the outcome too! "Providential relationships" is another one of the "five things"and we think our Perinatologist fits that description to a tee! I am super excited to hear the rest of the series...and look forward to God growing our faith through this time!

Today Greg and I had a meeting with the Neonatologist to discuss just what a preterm birth could look like. Never, in all the time these past 2 weeks, have either of us considered, even for a moment, that P3 wouldn't be born healthy. It was tough to hear percentages and to verbalize our wishes, but again, we truly trust that not only will we make it to "viability" (24 weeks) but well past that to deliver a healthy baby. We ask for your prayers, especially over this next week, that P3 will be patient and sit tight for another 10-12 weeks at least. Of course...right now the record here at Northside HRP is 101 days of bedrest...you all know how competitive I am... if I could beat that record then that would make P3 a 38 weeker! How great would that be?

The boys had a wonderful weekend with Daddy and Nana. Landon did a great job at his t-ball skills assessment and had fun too! They are excited to start "school" on Tuesday and seem to be doing well except for a bit of aggression towards one another and a bit of acting out. I am told that this is a very natural reaction to something as big as having mommy in the hospital for a long time, but it still breaks my heart to see. But for the most part...they are still the best of buddies!

We continue to be amazed and humbled by the help and care we have received from all of you! We so appreciate you and your prayers and well wishes and look forward to the day that we can celebrate a healthy P3 with you all! May God richly bless you as He has us through you!

Love, the Powells