Painted As With a Needle

" 'I am wonderfully made'; that word ruchampti is very full. The vulgate renders it, 'painted as with a needle,' i.e. richly embroidered with nerves and veins."
~John Flavel


I know it's hard to see baby clearly at this stage of pregnancy, but surely you see the amazing arm and ear and head and nose in this profile. As Clairesy said, defaulting to the masculine pronoun, "him so cute!"

First, I have to clarify what I meant in my previous post about being lectured a bit about the risks of pregnancy at my age. It's not my doctor who lectures me. In fact, my OB is the greatest doctor in the world. One of 10 children, he has only been positive about our family size, and though he makes clear to me the risks of multiple c-sections, he has never told me he wouldn't deliver another one of our babies. This will be my 8th c-section, and he will have done 7 of them. He's an amazing gift from the LORD.

I also see a perinatologist, a high-risk pregnancy doctor, during my pregnancy because of my Crohn's disease. This doctor is great as well and has been most gracious and encouraging.

It's the geneticists who take my history, etc. and then present me with the risks for birth defects (just doing their job) that sometimes can't restrain themselves from sharing their perspective. Today I waded through the following:

"Aren't you tired?"
"Your body has been through so much."

And the one I'm going to post on my mirror to help me watch how much weight I gain......

"You're short for your weight."


Of course, this was news to me. HA!

Now that we're past that...if I could tell you face to face how my visit went today, I would grab you by the shoulders, look you square in the eyes, get teary, and tell you that everything looked beautiful.

The test they do for down's syndrome at this stage was normal (this is not a commentary on down's syndrome babies. If that was God's will for us, He would provide the grace to train up that precious gift for His glory and we would be so grateful for that privilege. With Claire, the geneticist was pretty sure she had down's syndrome and couldn't believe we weren't freaking out about that diagnosis), and the placement of the placenta (an issue with having had so many c-sections) was wonderful, too. The perinatologist admitted that that's her first concern when she looks at my ultrasound.

How gracious God has been to us through each pregnancy. It leaves me humbled and overwhelmed at His kindness. I don't take a minute of this for granted, nor am I unaware of how blessed we are. It's a thought that's never far from me.

So today I'm rejoicing in this good news. I'm praising God for that strong heartbeat, for this amazing glimpse at our precious baby being knit together, and for a healthy placenta. I'm soaking in every bit of His mercy, knowing that no matter what tomorrow brings, it will still be full of opportunities to praise Him over and over.

Thank you for rejoicing with me over this milestone. Thank you for continuing to hold me up in prayer. I thank God for you.

Love,
Trisha