OB appointment this morning

I'm sorry I forgot to update the blog yesterday--the holiday weekend threw me off and I was thinking it was Monday. Oops!

I guess it was just as well, because I had an OB appointment this morning and now I can share the latest news. Liam's heart rate was fine this morning, and his Mama is measuring on target for where we are in the pregnancy (which will be 29 weeks this Thursday). We are looking at a C-section date somewhere around August 9 but the actual date is still up in the air.

Here are the updated prayer requests for the week. If we could ask you to pay special attention to #6, that would be great! Lisa is not sleeping well these days, which tends to mess up Bill's sleep, as well.

1. PRAISE for supportive people who call and e-mail "just to check in," send cards, and post comments to this blog. You make us smile, and we thank you!
2. PRAISE that Lisa's gestational diabetes test results were normal.
3. PRAISE that we have a 2nd opinion doc now!
4. For complete healing for our son during this pregnancy (we will ask for the moon since God made it anyway!).
5. For strength, guidance, and wisdom as we face treatment choices and decisions.
6. For good physical health and restful sleep for Bill and Lisa. This continues to be a big problem, especially for Lisa.
7. For God to show us the way financially so we can provide the best medical care for our son.
8. For the strength to let this child go home to God if it becomes obvious that this is God’s answer to our prayers.

Thanks,
Lisa

We have a second opinion doc arranged!

At the recommendation of our insurance company case manager (who is turning out to be a God-send!), I asked Dr. Liske to step in and try to secure a second opinion doctor for us. Within the space of an afternoon, he had accomplished what I've been trying to do for over a week. Too bad no one publishes a rule book for how to navigate the medical world! If I had known he could do that so fast, I'd have asked him to take care of it when I talked to him two weeks ago! ;) Oh well. Dr. Gomez-Fifer at University of Michigan will be working with us on a second opinion. So, you can cross that one off as yet another answered prayer and I'll keep you posted regarding what she tells us!

Lisa

"A rose by any other name..."

We have chosen a name (FINALLY!). I think we'll reserve the right to change this if he doesn't "look" like his name when he's born, but we have decided to name our son William Evan. We'll call him Liam for short (pronounced like the actor Liam Neeson's name, but we AREN'T naming him after the actor).

Hopefully that'll help with the prayers at church, because it's difficult to watch grown men praying for "Jelly Bean," though everyone has been great for doing that! ;)

Bill and Lisa

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

Updates for Tuesday!

We're still waiting to hear back from our second opinion docs. I will give them until tomorrow and then I'll start pestering them until I get a response. Jelly Bean seems to be doing well--he's moving around and kicking me a lot. If he's healthy enough to play soccer, all indications are that he'll be really good at it!

I'm going to leave our prayer requests for the next week the same as the ones from last week. Thanks so much again for your prayers!

Updated prayer request for the week...

Nothing new to report this week, but I wanted to post the prayer requests:

1. PRAISE for supportive people who call and e-mail "just to check in," send cards, and post comments to this blog. You make us smile, and we thank you!
2. For one of the doctors (or more) to agree to give us a second opinion while consulting with us on the phone.
3. For complete healing for our son during this pregnancy (we will ask for the moon since God made it anyway!).
4. For strength, guidance, and wisdom as we face treatment choices and decisions.
5. For good physical health and restful sleep for Bill and Lisa. This has been an ongoing problem, especially for Lisa.
6. For God to show us the way financially so we can provide the best medical care for our son.
7. For the strength to let this child go home to God if it becomes obvious that this is God’s answer to our prayers.

Contacting doctors for second opinions this week...

As promised, I'm updating on Tuesday! This week is off to a busy start, but I have moved beyond my disappointment about changing OBs and am focusing on other things. Like potty training our 2 year old. ;) It's going to be a long week at our house! To borrow a bit from Robert Frost:

But I have promises to keep,
And loads of laundry before I sleep,
And loads of laundry before I sleep.

Now you know why I became a counselor and not a poet.

Anyway, this week we will be contacting docs to line up a second opinion, so we hope and pray that one of the doctors will agree to play nicely with Dr. Liske and use his pictures. We don't want to have to travel north if we don't have to!

1. PRAISE for supportive people who call and e-mail "just to check in," send cards, and post comments to this blog. You make us smile, and we thank you!
2. An extra-special PRAISE for the members of our church, who made us a prayer book. Lisa has read it many times already, and it might well be worn out by the end of the pregnancy at this rate!
3. PRAISE for the MOBs group at church. MOBs stands for "Moms on Bended Knees." They have been praying for Jelly Bean and our family during their meetings, and we are so very grateful.
4. For one of the doctors (or more) to agree to give us a second opinion while consulting with us on the phone.
5. For complete healing for our son during this pregnancy (we will ask for the moon since God made it anyway!).
6. For strength, guidance, and wisdom as we face treatment choices and decisions.
7. For good physical health and restful sleep for Bill and Lisa. This has been an ongoing problem, especially for Lisa.
8. For God to show us the way financially so we can provide the best medical care for our son.
9. For the strength to let this child go home to God if it becomes obvious that this is God’s answer to our prayers.

Lisa

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

I met the new OB yesterday and an insurance update

First, the positive things: Jelly Bean's heartbeat sounded great yesterday!! The new OB is moving forward with scheduling the C-section (it sure will be nice to have an actual date to look forward to!). The pediatric cardiologist and my OB are trying to decide whether to deliver me at 39 or 40 weeks, since each has a different opinion about what is best. I'll be 39 weeks on August 9 and 40 weeks on August 16, so I assume the C-section will take place sometime in that 7 day window. In addition, we did get approval back from our insurance company on all the doctors and hospitals we are considering for a second opinion, which is fantastic news!

All went fine yesterday, but I was really struggling (and continue to struggle) with having to give up my OB and change to a new one. Medically, I know I'm where I should be, but the new hospital is so large and the new OB's practice is so different that the change is just incredibly overwhelming. I feel pretty stupid for being upset over a doctor/hospital change. It seems a silly thing to worry over in the face of so many other bigger things, but for whatever reason, that's what is most on my mind right now. If you would, please offer some extra prayers this week for me to find peace with this transition and to be able to focus on the blessings we're experiencing on this journey rather than the worries and problems.

Thanks,
Lisa

New OB and Insurance Update

This morning I submitted the names of the pediatric cardiologists that have been recommended to us for a second opinion to our insurance case manager, so now we are waiting to see if she'll approve any of them. I had a conversation with her last Thursday and she kept encouraging us to "stay local" for a second opinion. I tried to explain that "staying local" wasn't likely to be an option for us because of the seriousness of this particular problem, but wasn't sure she was getting it. I was hoping this is because she is actually a high-risk pregnancy case manager and clearly had limited information about congenital heart defects. She had said she would do some research on HLHS and get back to us, and today when I spoke to her, the name she was able to come up with was a pediatric cardiologist in Philadelphia, so she's off the "you should consider staying local" kick. That means Cigna is more likely to approve some of the ped cards we submitted to them. If they don't, we can check into using the doc in Philadelphia.

In other news, I meet with our new OB tomorrow for an initial appointment. I also have the routine gestational diabetes test tomorrow, so hopefully that will come back normal. Jelly Bean seems to be doing well, if I can use how much he kicks me as a measure of how he's doing. Since he has used me as a soccer ball all week on a regular basis, I think he's doing just great this week!

Some of our friends who are involved in mid-week Bible studies or prayer groups have requested that we pick a specific day to post an updated prayer list. So, I will start posting the list on Tuesdays. Here is the one for this week, and we thank you so much for your ongoing prayers! You have no idea how much it means to us to know so many are praying for us!

1. PRAISE for the help from the insurance case manager.
2. PRAISE for the discovery that both Bill and Lisa have a small life insurance policy through work on each dependent that kicks in immediately upon the birth of any baby, healthy or otherwise. This eases any niggling worries about funeral costs if Jelly Bean doesn't make it.
3. PRAISE for supportive people who call and e-mail "just to check in" and send cards that make us smile.
4. For Lisa to have a successful first visit with her new OB tomorrow and for good results on the gestational diabetes test.
5. For complete healing for our son during this pregnancy (we will ask for the moon since God made it anyway!).
6. For strength, guidance, and wisdom as we face treatment choices and decisions.
7. For good physical health and restful sleep for Bill and Lisa as we absorb this news and make decisions.
8. For God to show us the way financially so we can provide the best medical care for our son.
9. For the strength to let this child go home to God if it becomes obvious that this is God’s answer to our prayers.

Lisa