To bring you up to date...

 On Thursday, we made our last day trip up to Albuquerque.  Several important decisions were made.

They include:

• We are moving up there next Friday, August 5th...earlier than I had originally thought.
• If he hasn't made his appearance yet, I will be induced on August 30th.
• I will continue to be seen weekly by both the OB and the perinatologist.

Other updates include: 

• The baby has dropped and has moved into position.  Please pray he goes full term.
• My mom will be spending much of the month there with us.  She gets into town on the 10th.
• She got a great deal (practically half price) on her extended stay hotel, and so she got us a room too!  So, we have a place to stay during the weeks before Little One comes...and we'll be near her.
• I can sleep!  Since the day we asked for prayer in our June newsletter, I have slept amazingly ever since...after 5 weeks of serious insomnia.  Such a great God!
• Baby is growing at a normal rate.  Everything still looks good.
• I think we have a name...that we will keep secret until he is born.  I have such a hard time not telling every store clerk and friend who asks, however.  And, I am notorious for changing my mind. So, we'll see...

Random things to mention:

• People (including doctors) in Albuquerque refer to Las Cruces as "up there," even though we're three hours south. I think it's the weirdest thing.
• Have I mentioned that our doctors up there are incredible?  I am trying to convince our OB to move down here.  She's considering it.  :-) 
• In fact, there are several people we like a whole lot up there.  Sweet blessing.

So, now we have less than a week to prepare for the month(?)-long stay up north...as well as to prepare for the baby and life after baby.  I had plenty of ambitious plans for nesting that won't happen.  I probably could have spent less time on Pinterest and more time organizing our home and filling my freezer with some of the meals I intended to cook.  Oh well.  We get to come back with a baby!  And, Brandon's a great cook.  :-)

Thanks again so much for reading this...

and for caring.

We feel very loved

by everyone who has

written, prayed, called,

texted, fed us, etc. 

We praise God for you!

Our Medical Updates

BRANDON UPDATE: 

Brandon's surgery went well yesterday.  We had some wonderful friends from church switch off babysitting our little man, and I got to spend most of the day at the hospital with him.  He was nauseous and dizzy from the anesthesia for a while yesterday, but he is doing better in that department.  Now, he is just really sore and has to sleep a lot.  Being immobile for long periods of time is not at good for preventing blood clots, so please do keep praying.  He hasn't been able to walk around as much as we thought he would. 

I don't think the doctor prepared us that well for how much he would need to recover from his surgery.  I had another impression entirely.  He will be out of commission for a while, I think.  

MANDY UPDATE: 

I think I had mentioned that I was supposed to go in for some fertility tests this week.  I cancelled them, and I am going to start in January.  Our insurance deductible is really high, and mine hasn't been touched this year.  So, I am going to wait a few weeks to allow the costs to go to my 2009 deductible...which will hopefully be finished off by the costs of pregnancy.  Si Dios quiere...  

Thanks for the notes, emails, texts, comments and calls.  We love our friends.

Brandon's Surgery

Right now, I am in the hospital waiting room, and Brandon is in surgery.  He is doing well, and he should be out in an hour or so.  Please pray he won't have any more blood clots as a result of the surgery.  We don't like blood clots.  As we were praying last night, Brandon thanked God again for the hernia...because he wouldn't have gone to the doctor about the pain in the leg. That pain turned out to be the blood clot, and we are so grateful that he went in for the hernia. We'll also be really grateful it's gone. 

We took some pictures on our computer while we were waiting. It was strange seeing him lying there in a hospital gown hooked up to an iv.  Thanks, Lord, so much for our good health. 

Another Brandon Update

Okay, so my update the other day wasn't exactly true.  I realized yesterday that Brandon's leg is still bothering him quite a bit actually;  he just isn't complaining about it.  

So, I wanted to clarify.  Please pray for him.  

Thanks.  We love you guys. 

Good News

Brandon met with the hematologist today, and he had some good news for us. Although Brandon tested positive for a gene that makes him predisposed to DVTs, the doctor today made it clear that it is not the big deal it originally appeared to be. It is pretty common, actually, and it doesn't mean that he will be on blood thinners for the rest of his life...as our general practitioner thought he would be.

So, we were excited about that...and very grateful. Please continue to pray that his clot goes away uneventfully. They are still monitoring his blood clotting level and will continue to do so throughout the summer.

Happy Mother's Day

This is my very first attempt at digital scrapbooking.  It was a lot of fun once I finally learned a few things.  I am very bad at getting cards in the mail in time, so this might be our future.  :-)  

It has been a while since I have updated our blog, but I did want to share some of what is going on with Brandon.  The doctor did end up recommending that we stay home this summer.  It was a very good recommendation, as it turns out, because we received a call on Friday that Brandon does have some sort of genetic predisposition to blood clots.  We will know more tomorrow, but it might mean that he will need to be on blood thinners indefinitely.  He will need to see a hematologist soon.  

Please pray for my sweet husband.  We do know that God desires to use this in our lives, so please pray that we will trust Him with all this.  I don't know what people do without Him. 

Please pray...

After the triathlon, Brandon started feeling a strong pain in his calf. A few days after making an appointment to get it checked out, he almost cancelled it. The pain was feeling a lot better, and it seemed like the visit would end up being a waste of money. He ended up deciding last minute to go...a decision that was definitely led by the Lord.

Brandon has a DVT (deep vein thrombosis). It is a blood clot. The doctor was really surprised at the ultrasound results, and he put him on blood thinners that night. Brandon has been giving himself shots twice daily. He will be taking the pills for at least three months.

We're really, really grateful for the diagnosis. It can be very dangerous if left untreated, and many doctors don't recognize blood clots when they see them in someone as young and active as Brandon.

Please pray for my husband to get better. We have another appointment at the end of the week to see how his blood is clotting...or its thinness level...or something along those lines. It will determine a lot.

We are now trying to determine our summer plans...and we ask you to pray for that as well. We were planning on helping staff the Myrtle Beach summer project on the 27th, but now we don't know if we can anymore. The doctor advised us against the travel...both the 3-4 day road trip we were planning to get out there and the multiple plane trips that would be necessary because Brandon can't be in a car for that long. He also has to get checked out weekly by our doctor.

Writing out all the reasons why Myrtle isn't a good idea seems to make it obvious what we need to do. We would just be so sad not to get to spend the summer with the other amazing staff (and students) who will be there. I was getting really excited to see what God had in store...and much of my family is out there as well.

So, again, please pray for my husband and his health...as well as for guidance for us. God is amazingly great at answering prayer. THANKS!

These are a few random family shots...including Caleb pre- and post-haircut. In the bottom picture, he was giving rides to his koala bear, brown bear, and rabbit on his fire engine. He then took a rest on my lap. I love when he does that.