Final Countdown!

One week from today, our sweet baby boy Chase will be here! It's so hard for me to believe that our journey is finally beginning. It seems like a lifetime ago when we first found out we were expecting -- what joy we felt! Then it seemed our world came crashing down around us when we heard his diagnosis at 20 weeks: Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. It was like hearing someone speak another language. We had no idea what it meant or how it would impact our lives. The last 18 weeks since the diagnosis have crawled by so slowly... I thought we'd never get here! But now we have a week to settle in and make a new home for our family here in Charleston. The rental house is very nice and we all seem to be adjusting well. I was most worried about LO, but she appears to enjoy the "newness" of being here and has been running around like crazy all day. In fact, we just put her to bed a little after 10:00 PM! This, of course, after we allowed her to eat Krispy Kreme doughnuts for dinner! We figured if it was good enough for mommy and daddy, it was good enough for her! We did throw in a grilled cheese, too, though, to try to keep it healthy. ;)

So this week basically consists of settling in at the house and preparing as much as possible for the journey that awaits us. I'm so very grateful to have my sister-in-law joining us on Thursday and my mom driving down on Saturday. My precious LO will be in the best care while hubs and I take care of Chase.

I have to admit I really haven't even started thinking about the delivery. I know that's kind of a key part of this process, but I've been too focused on getting to Charleston and then trying to emotionally prepare (as much as one can) for Chase's first open-heart surgery. The whole process of giving birth to him is waaaaaay back in the back of my mind! I'm sure that will change very quickly come Monday morning when my induction begins! Ack!!!

So I guess overall it will be a quiet week here in blogland. But stay tuned... our roller coaster ride begins on Monday (if not sooner!) and I plan to keep all of you informed on how things go over the next few weeks. My hope and prayer is still that God will choose to heal Chase of his heart defect before he's born and astonish the doctors! But if that isn't His will, I pray that He will choose to heal Chase through the skilled hands of the excellent surgical team at MUSC. It would be really awesome if Chase's ascending aorta were to grow large enough that they wouldn't need to do the open-heart Norwood surgery at birth -- just an open-chest surgery to band his pulmonary artery. But at this point, we are prepared (as much as possible) for a long journey of 3 open-heart surgeries for our sweet son.

Please be in prayer for us over the next few days as we settle in. I'm sure the anxious/nervous feelings will start to set in BIG TIME and I know I'd certainly appreciate prayers for peace concerning my pending labor and Chase's delivery, as well as for his "official" diagnosis and surgical plan after he's born. Hubs and I know God is in control and has a perfect plan for our family. I just know we couldn't make it through this without the prayer support of our family and friends -- and even a few strangers! Thank you in advance for seeing us through this journey!