Doctor-a-thon

This week I have 5 doctor appointments in 3 days, a real overload of medical care.  It involves a lot of coordinating babysitters for Sadie and we are truly blessed to have so many willing friends.  This morning in church the pastor was talking about dreams we have for the future.  He mentioned the dream of our children having children and I cried as I thought of Hope and having to tell her that she won't be able to give birth herself.  This evening, Shawn and I sat down to watch a documentary he'd recorded on medical stories that involve children.  Just our luck, the show was about a baby with a heart defect that went in for surgery soon after birth.  In one scene, they show the mother holding her son for the first time, 3 days after birth.  This was really hard to see and a realistic fear that we both hold each day.  We couldn't seem to turn it off as we wanted to see what would happen.  It got to the part where he needed his second surgery and said, 'to be continued'.  Of course that would happen!  We have some days of great strength and other days that are full of tears.  Overall, we're making it through and getting closer to our move to Edmonton.

I spent Saturday in the kitchen with some girlfriends, we made meals to pack the freezer and have some things ready for after Hope arrives and life is busy.  I have 41 new meals in the freezer and will have to work to avoid using them all before we head to Edmonton in 10 weeks.  The more we have ready, the easier the transition with Hope should be.

Wednesday this week we'll have our most important appointments - the obstetrician in the morning and an echo of Hope's heart in the afternoon.  Shawn and I have decided that I'll attend these appointments alone this week.  It's not our most ideal option, but we realize that Shawn will need to take a lot of time off work and with so many appointments, and it's hard for him to make it to all of them.  I'll ask the cardiologist to call him at work and have him come to the office if she's going to give me any further bad news, to be sure I won't be alone for that.  Please pray for strength and peace for both of us as we do this.  We'll update you all as we receive any news from the doctors this week.