Caraline's Story - Part I

How we found out that we were expecting: It was the day we went pumpkin picking at Gnismer Farms. At the time, I didn’t know why but I just had a “feeling”. Not necessarily physical, I just knew.  It was pretty neat and I wasn’t sure how to explain it so I kept it to myself that day. The next day was Sunday. On the way home from church Ethan requested BLTs for lunch. We had to swing by Tom Thumb to get a tomato and I grabbed a ept so that I could know for sure. Once we were home, and the test was… uh, taken… I told Ellasyn first.  I tried and tried to get her to tell Ethan, but it was either too loud or too jumbled for him to understand.  Finally, at the table over lunch she said, “ I’m gonna be a biiiig teeeterrr!”.  After a few times repeating, “teeeeterr”, I stepped in with an interpretation. Ethan’s reaction was, “REALLY!?”

~ Picking pumpkins with a little secret ~

Flash forward six weeks or so, to my first sonogram appointment. It was confirmed that there was indeed a baby and we were given an estimated due date of June 17… our sixth wedding anniversary date. A couple of days later I received a phone call telling me that the heartbeat was very faint and there was also a subcortical hemorrhage. A what!? I went straight to Google and WebMD to find out more. They were pretty common, but we were still cautious and decided to keep the news to ourselves a little longer.

Two weeks later, I went in for another sono to see if there were any changes. Good news and not so good news: The heartbeat was stronger and they had actually miscalculated the gestation so our due date was changed to June 24. However, the hemorrhage was still there and had grown. Another more in depth sono was scheduled with a specialist.

At 16 weeks I went in for the sonogram and was told that there was no sign that there had ever been a hemorrhage. God is so good! He had resolved the hemorrhage and our baby was growing right on track.

Another few weeks go by and our appointment to find out our baby’s gender comes up. It’s a GIRL! This visit came with some more confusing news. There was an abnormality in one of her heart valves and the base of her skull was thickened… both signs of a baby that may have Downs Syndrome.  No other signs were found and overall our baby girl was healthy and strong.  Despite the doctors assurance there was still some concern.

After much prayer and another visit with my doctor we were assured once more that God is bigger than us and that we were going to have a healthy baby.

The remainder of the pregnancy went on… and on without any concerns. At my 38 week checkup there was not any progress being made so a date to be induced was set up for 41 weeks.  I really didn’t think I would make it that long and I really did not want to be induced.  More prayers for Caraline to make it here in God’s timing.  I used Philipians 4: 4-7 as I prayed:

 ⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

40 weeks rolls around and there is still no sign of Caraline coming. At my checkup the nurse said, “Doesn’t she know that we are waiting for her?”. We were waiting for her, and so ready to meet her. But I was fine with waiting since my doctor was out of town.  Dr. Walker was out of town for Ellasyn’s birth and I really wanted her to be here for Caraline’s.  I still had seven more days before I was scheduled to be induced.  Each day brought me more peace about waiting. 

~ 40 weeks ~

~ 41 weeks ~

I kept working at church, getting things prepared for my leave and also accomplished a couple last minute projects for the nursery. I set up care for Ellasyn with my parents and coordinated with my friend, Gara Hill, to be on standby as the birth photographer. 

To be continued: Part II...