Madison is Hanging in There!

Our latest news on Madison's progress comes after a busy week of drs. appointments for Mandy and Madison. Monday was Mandy's first appointment of the week at Vanderbilt for an MRI. Dr. Bennett was hoping the MRI would show her more detail about the cyst that has developed on Madison's brain and whether it is putting any unnecessary pressure on her already swollen brain (swollen from fluid). Wednesday we journeyed back to Vandy to get the results and an ultrasound. Ultrasounds, as frequently as they have occurred during this pregnancy, are like little gifts each time we go. We've had a chance to observe our Father's amazing creation and watch Madison grow and change in a way that most parents don't get the opportunity to do. Madison waved and stuck out her tongue in Wednesday's ultrasound and we were overjoyed to catch them on the screen. Drs. were not able to gain any further insight about Madison's cyst as the MRI results were inconclusive. Praise God that it apparently isn't big enough to raise any serious flags at this point. Her ventricle dilation stayed exactly the same as it was two weeks ago which is another praise! All in all the dr. didn't believe Madison was in any compromising condition that would require her to be delivered early like we thought at first. So, as for now, June 8th is still supposed to be Madison's birthday. At today's non-stress test, part of Mandy's twice-a-week testing she undergoes, Madison got the hiccups. The nurses could hear them from the hallway while Mandy was on the monitor and got tickled at how bad Madison had them. Mandy's belly was bouncing up and down in perfect time for over five minutes. Poor little girl. All in all, we feel like this week's reports gave us some hope that Madison is hanging in there, just waiting for the time to make her entrance into the world and for God to be glorified in her birth.

Belly Pictures!

Mandy's mom and dad came up to visit for Mother's Day weekend and we had a photo shoot with her dad. He took over 100 belly pictures...these are just a few of the many great pictures he made of the Madison belly.

Not-So-Great News from Vandy

Today was a busy day at Vandy for Mandy and Madison. The morning started out with an hour long echo cardiogram on Madison's heart. The dr. was looking for any abnormalities or defects in her heart that commonly occur when babies have such defects as spina bifida. Madison's heart appears to be in good health for now but she will have another echo done after she's born. After that appointment it was time to meet with our regular dr. for an ultrasound. While Madison had gained some weight, it's still not enough for the dr. to feel sure that there is not some chromosomal abnormality we're not aware of. But she had gained over a pound since our last visit so we're praising the Lord for that. A new development was the enlarged cyst the dr. spotted in the middle of Madison's brain. The dr. says they don't know what has caused it or what effect it may be having on her brain so Mandy goes back in two weeks for an MRI. We also learned Madison's brain ventricles are dilated significantly more than before- this means she's developing hydrocephalus and will most likely have to have a second surgery to put in shunts to drain the fluid after she's born. The combination of all these things is leading the dr. to believe that Madison will need to be delivered earlier than planned. It's likely that she'll be born in 3 weeks. We'll know for sure after our dr. has a chance to confer with the neurologist that will perform Madison's surgeries. Today's news is not what we were prepared to hear because we've been feeling like things were going so well with Madison lately. But God is still in control of her every heartbeat and movement and we know He is not finished with her yet. There is some purpose to these challenges we are facing with Madison and while we can't begin to understand why, we trust God is going to reveal Himself in an awesome way with her. But we are human and our hearts still grieve for our little girl who is having such a hard time. Our hearts have cried out to the Lord several times today over all of this and we just continue to ask that you not only pray for Madison but for us as well. We're trying to "keep the faith" as they say, but we have to say it's so difficult to do that. We are completely helpless in this situation and it is a very humbling position to be in. Just pray that we will allow God to be our strength in our weakness. His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. So, we have to trust those ways and His plan for our family. "The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made (this includes Madison)." Psalm 145:17. We did get a look at part of Madison's face in 3-D today and she is beautiful. Seeing her face is what we're going to consider as Mandy's Mother's Day present from Vanderbilt. The two pics that we got of her are of her profile because she wasn't in the right spot to get a front view. The right side of her face was mashed up against my belly so you see a big blob there.