Day 19: Shiloh

Blaine came to visit last night and to go with me to my ultrasound this morning. Details to come...

Come to think of it, last night was our first date we've ever spent alone--hmm, wouldn't have pictured it in a hospital with me on bed rest. Oh well, it was memorable.

Aside from gazing into each others eyes like two love-sick teenagers, we came to a decision.

We're naming our baby--now.

This was prompted in part by the fact that I constantly refer to this baby as 'they' or 'them' and it confuses people, and we just felt like it is time.

I wouldn't say that we consider this our miracle child. Every child is a miracle.

But this baby is definitely a gift, and we've named him/her accordingly (ah hah--that's right, we are still waiting to find out if this is a girl/boy)

The name is

Shiloh
[Hebrew for "His Gift"]

We got some good/sobering news today about our little Shiloh. The good news is that Shiloh is growing like a champ and developmentally seems to be just fine. The less fantastic news is that we don't know how long this will continue to be the case.

Somehow when I filled out the order form for this pregnancy I accidentally checked the 'ripped placenta' box. Whoops. My mistake.

From all of the data, we think that there was a tear or slight detachment early on which compromised the amniotic sac causing it to rupture. This in turn resulted in my uterus shrinking, further exacerbating the placenta and causing increased bleeding.

Thankfully, the placenta is still working because Shiloh is growing, and as long as the bleeding doesn't get worse we're in good shape. The consequences of increased bleeding are not fun to think about (further placenta tearing or abruption-i.e. me hemorrhaging, Shiloh losing access to oxygen, blah,blah,blah, really boring stuff)

So we are in a race against time: my placenta's health against Shiloh's development.

And we are staying upbeat--because I'm an endurance kinda gal.

Let me say this much. I know more than ever today that Heavenly Father is very much aware of our situation and has ordered things for our good. The trail of tender mercies is long. We aren't going to look back, and we're not going to try and get ahead of ourselves.

Slow and steady wins the race. And our Savior has offered to carry us when it gets too hard.

Joshua 1: 5, 9
"I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest."