No surprises.

Yesterday we had another visit to the Comprehensive Fetal Care Center for another ultrasound.

The baby measured 3 pounds, 4 ounces which put her at the 31 week mark even though I am 33 weeks pregnant. That's the 13 percentile for growth.  Which means 87% of other babies are bigger than she is at 33 weeks.  No surprises there.

And her stomach bubble was empty as it has been at every other ultrasound (indicating she isn't taking in any amniotic fluid like she should be).  And it still showed that I have a ton of extra amniotic fluid (indicating she isn't taking in any amniotic fluid like she should be). No surprises there.

And her little index finger and pinkie finger are crossed over the other fingers like they are in most Trisomy 18 babies.  And her little feet are still rocker-bottomed like they are in most Trisomy 18 babies. No surprises there.

She was kicking her feet, punching her fists, and waving her arms around.  This girl likes to move!  No surprises there.

Nothing has changed.

But on a slightly positive note, there are no new problems to report.  The placenta and umbilical cord are doing their job and keeping her nourished even though she is small.  That's one thing they like to check when the babies are measuring small.  So we will go back in three weeks for another ultrasound. 

And the best part of all, we got to see her sweet little face again.

She has her arm raised above her head.  You can see her pinkie finger is folded over her other finger.

And here is a tiny foot.  You can see that it is shaped like the rocker on a rocking chair - kind of curved.

After the ultrasound we headed over to Brenner Children's Hospital and meet with one of the pediatric surgeons.

We wanted to talk with her about the surgery to repair the esophageal atresia that they expect she has.  She was such such a nice woman and explained the problem and what they do to fix it.

I won't go into all the different types of ways the problem presents - I think there were 5 in all.  Each one varied depending on how the esophagus came to an end and whether or not it was attached to the trachea and if so, where exactly it was attached.

After Rebecca is born, the neonatologist would put a tube down her throat to see if it continued into the esophagus or if it stopped prematurely.  We are praying that it continues to go all the way but if it doesn't, then she has an atresia and surgery would need to be performed or she would die because she couldn't eat. 

If she has no problems breathing after she is born and it appears that she might live for a while (and don't ask me what a while is - I guess it's anything other than a few minutes or hours), and there don't appear to be any heart problems, then Dan and I would most likely ask to have the surgery done.

At that point, she would be transported from the NICU at Forsyth to the NICU at Brenner's and the next day they would do surgery.  The surgeon said the surgery would last from 2-4 hours unless there were other problems they found with the esophagus and trachea.

She said that even though Rebecca has T18, she has no problem doing the surgery on her and she said her colleagues all felt the same way.  (I have read on line that many doctors, once finding out that a baby has T18, only recommend hospice care and just letting the baby pass away.  Thankfully we have yet to encounter any doctor who feels that way.  In fact, we have been repeatedly told that they will take any and all measures necessary to keep her alive, or if we choose, they will do nothing except provide pallative and hospice care.  It's all up to us.

And of course, we know it isn't all up to us.  We are still praying for a miracle.  And like Dan said yesterday after seeing no improvement in the ultrasounds, "God really is going for a big last minute miracle, isn't he?!" (Oh, how I love that man!)

And if He doesn't provide that miracle, we will continue to pray for wisdom and guidance as we will have many tough choices to face.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support.  Through this whole pregnancy, I have felt peaceful and calm.  Oh, sure,  I have my moments, but overall, I think I'm holding it together pretty well, and I know that's only because of the grace of God and the fact that so many people are covering us in prayer!

So keep praying.

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. - James 5:26 NIV

Continuing with the 7 Posts in 7 Days Challenge hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary.