We are in the hospital (3/9)

Well, when we said that today was going to be a big day, we didn't think it was going to be this big... Not sure where to start so let's just dive right in.

We got to our appointment in time to sit in the waiting room for a good 20 minutes or so, and we were called back by an unfamiliar woman who led us to the ultrasound room.  She then sat at the computer and another unfamiliar face came in and began to prepare for the ultrasound.  Taking instruction from the first lady, she began the ultrasound.  Well, anyways, the whole time we just felt uneasy about the ultrasound, they seemed to question things, and it just felt like they were hiding something from us the whole time.  To make a long story short, Thatcher passed his BPP (Yay for continual movement!), so he continues to do well, but his measurements came out today at 5lbs 3oz (keeping in mind that last week's measurements were purely hypothetical) this means that he only gained around 9 oz. in 3 weeks, the growth was slower than what the doctor's would have liked to have seen.  So when we spoke with Dr. R (our delivering doctor) she wanted to see if Whitney had progressed at all, and when she checked, Whitney had not progressed much further and she basically told us that she would like to induce labor, so we were sent over here to labor and delivery.  Tonight we are basically just waiting, but they will induce labor tomorrow.  They are going to keep a close eye on Thatcher tonight and tomorrow to see how he is handling labor and contractions, and will be taking the induction slow, meaning they are going to use small amounts of the drug at a time so as to not overwhelm Thatcher, just to give a gentle nudge.  At this point, we expect labor to last most of the day tomorrow, but we can't wait to meet God's servant and our son in a few short hours!

So that's the short story... here's where we are.  Needless to say this came as a shock to us, and certainly was unforeseen by us, but we had prayed before our appointment that the doctor's would catch anything that needs to be caught, and we certainly trust that God is in control.  This absolutely is God's timing, so we are thankful that He is in control, and continues to show us that.  We actually got here just in time to run into some of the nurses we had met in our first stay, and one of them actually stopped by and gave us a gift (she is leaving to go out of town tomorrow, and we got here just as her shift was ending...God's timing at work).  She gave us a cross and Thatcher's first bible.  She wrote in it from "A nurse who is praying for you".  We can see that God has orchestrated these relationships and His timing is perfect.

Please pray, please pray, please continue to pray, please start to pray, please lift up Thatcher in prayer to a God who is able, to our Creator, to our Savior, to our Healer, to our Lord, to a God who taught us to love, to a God who is love, to our King.  Please pray, fervently, humbly, honestly, boldly, expectantly, and thankfully for God to have His hand continuously on Thatcher.  Please pray that Thatcher's heart is strong, that there are no decelerations especially due to the induction drugs (pitocin).  Please pray that Thatcher's lungs be healthy and strong, that he takes deep purposeful breaths, that he will praise God with everything in those lungs.  Please pray for the swelling in his brain, they found that his 4th ventricle is now swollen, up to this point, that was the only ventricle that was not swollen, please continue to pray for healing of his brain.  Please pray for a smooth delivery, for no more complications, for no more drama.  We know God is in control, we trust that He is working, and we love that He is using Thatcher, and we praise Him.  We will praise Him tonight, we will praise Him tomorrow.  Please join us in praising our God, please join us in praying to our God who is able to heal Thatcher now, completely, fully, absolutely.

Please know, this is not a sad time, we are not mourning, we are certainly anxious, but we have seen that God is in control, and we believe that He will give us strength, and He will continue to use the church, and His word to speak to us, and calm our fears, to continue to prove that He is with us.  He is our joy, and He is our peace. We can't wait to meet Thatcher.  We can't wait to hold him, and to kiss his little big lips!  We can't wait to see the perfect child that God has wonderfully knit together.  Please pray, and please praise, our God is worthy of all of our worship.