Three Short Weeks

It is hard to believe that we'll be settling in for our first night in Edmonton 3 weeks from now.  Time has gone so quickly and I feel like it's speeding up even more now.  We still have a lot to finish around the house, but are blessed to have a great group of guys coming to work on the painting tomorrow.  Hopefully we can at least finish the upstairs and get things back to working order, I can hardly stand the mess and lack of organization.

I'm currently suffering from, and denying, a bad chest cold.  Please pray that God would spare me from a long bout with this cold, and that it would fully clear and not return before Edmonton.  I'm hoping it's not the kind of cold that gets shared with my family as well.  I'm terrified of being sick while we're in Edmonton, we would have to move out of the Ronald McDonald House.  They don't allow you to stay there if you have a cold or flu, it's too dangerous for the other house guests that are in chemo and such.  It would make for a very expensive cold!

I had an OB appointment on Friday, they were very pleased with Hope's growth so far.  The OB said that Hope is actually big for a heart defect baby and they are surprised by her growth.  They continue to encourage me to gain as much weight as I can, this is easier on some days than others.  I'm quickly approaching the weight I delivered Sadie at and I'm starting to feel gross.  It's hard to feel attractive at the end of pregnancy when you don't have to gain extra weight!  I continually remind myself that the cardiologist was very firm when he told us that even an ounce would make a positive difference for Hope in surgery.  I'm eating desserts for Hope and I'll just have to remember that when she's out and I'm stuck with the damage for a while.

I have an echo on Wednesday and will get an update on Hope's aorta, I'll be sure to let you all know if there has been any growth.  This will be our last echo in Calgary, we'll have one more OB appointment and then will complete our Calgary care and transfer to the Edmonton team.  It's hard to believe we've gotten this far into the process, I'm starting to realize that it's almost time to go through labour again!  I greatly fear this labour as I know that Hope is so safe in the womb, I want to keep her there longer.

I have a lot of tough days right now as I struggle with the stress of relocating, renovating, the reality of Hope's delivery and the unknowns that are ahead of us.  I find myself feeling grumpy or frustrated over small, meaningless things.  I know it's the stress of everything approaching and I'm trying to stay on top of it and spare Shawn from it as well.  I'm being more intentional about spending time with my friends, it allows me to get out of the house and forget about all the things I should be doing.  I also know that I'll greatly miss them while I'm in Edmonton, and I need to take advantage of being so close to them now.

I need to get some sleep so I can fight this cold, but I'll be sure to update more as we get closer to departing.  I can only imagine that I'll be full of changing emotions and have lots to say!!  Thank you for continuing to hold us up in prayer and support us.  We truly appreciate the encouragement we receive from others and know that it gives us strength on the especially tough days.  We continue to trust the Lord with our journey and lean on him for everything we need, I believe he uses many of our friends to fill so many of our needs, for that we thank you.