Follow Up Ultrasound

We had our follow up ultrasound (29 weeks) this week in Dubuque to check on Baby's brain again. We were so encouraged after our last appointment in Iowa City, so we were expecting another good report. Unfortunately this was not the case.

It appears the ventricles in Baby's little brain are now measuring over 16mm. Two months ago they were measuring just over 10mm, which was enough of a concern that we were sent to Iowa City. This amount of fluid seems to be a severe problem, as well as the fact that it seems to be increasing. There also may be some issue with the corpus callosum (the part that connects the 2 sides of the brain), but the ultrasound in Dubuque could not confirm that. We now have to go back to Iowa City next week for another level II ultrasound and to consult with a specialist. We hope at the very least to get some kind of diagnosis at this time.

Here are some specific things you can pray for:

1. That the ventricle size in the brain would decrease to under 10mm (this is the "magic" number).

2. That the corpus callosum would be healthy.

3. That we would have strength and peace in this time of uncertainty

It is hard not to be frustrated and worry at this time, but we are placing our trust in the Author and Giver of life.

We will have an update for you all on March 4th, the day of our appointment (which is at 8:45am).

Thank you for your prayers for us and our little one!

Baby's Daddy is 30!

And Mommy threw a big surprise party last Friday! Our house was jam packed and it was a ton of fun!

Ashlee's awesome cake!

Beth's Mum's cookies!

The cake maker!

Wii on the projector! On Saturday we headed to Madison for an overnight trip with Nate and Nicole and Dan and Beth. It was a perfect birthday!

The Taj Indian restaurant

Baby's First Shower

We have just returned from a great whirlwind trip to Canada. We flew in late Friday night, and flew back home Monday afternoon, and in between managed to squeeze in a lot of fun! We had "Family Valentine's Dinner", good times catching up with friends, a fishing trip for Neil and Baby's first shower. It was beautiful, wonderful and perfect, and we are so thankful for everyone who was able to come, and most of all to the lovely ladies in charge of making it so fantastic. It was a great time, and we feel so thankful for and blessed by all of the love "showered" on us. We loved ALL of our gifts...all of the itty bitty adorable clothes, the many (and much needed) baby supplies, Breha's beautiful handmade quilt (in cooridnating nursery colors!), the very cool "Oh Baby!" products sewn by Jenny and Deborah, and the money given to put towards those bigger "essentials". Here are a few pictures from the weekend...

A steamin' pot of lobsters from Family Valentine's Dinner

The beautiful setting and setup for the shower, thanks to Breha, Deborah and Jenny, planners and decorators extraordinaire!

Cookies made by "Grandma" Patterson-Baby boy or girl...we don't know!

Our scrumptious luncheon...my mom is a fantastic cook!!

One of the MANY beautiful desserts!

Two fun shower games: Match the crazy celebrity with their crazier baby names, and "Ooey Gooey, Guess the Pooey", which is not as gross as it sounds, but involved diapers, chocolate and a discerning sense of smell and sight!

We're going to have...

A Niece!

Stu and Becky found out on Thursday that they are having a girl! We are so excited to have a little niece! And it's already been fun to pick out cute, girly clothes and accessories.

We are still not sure what our Baby Pitman will be, as we opted to "not find out". But although we don't want to know FOR SURE, we are doing everything we can to figure it out on our own. We're eating up all the old wives' tales (carrying high vs. carrying low etc.) and the Chinese lunar calendar...with very mixed results! We even took a quiz based on these "predictors" and found out that there is a 50% chance we're having a girl...and a 50% chance we're having a boy! (Helpful!)

Regardless, he or she will be here in about 95 days! And will be wearing these VERY cute (VERY gender neutral) cloth diapers on his or her little baby butt! This is our first "shower" present (a little before the shower!) from Mum Patterson. They arrived today, and we think they are SO fun! (Ask us again how fun they are when we're doing a load of poopy diapers per day!)

Baby is currently 26 weeks, and is as long as an English cucumber, and as heavy as a rutabaga! We head to Canada this weekend (with the little rutabaga!) for a visit, "Family Valentine's Day" and our first baby shower. We'll post more pictures soon!