The boys' court date to decide if they will be placed with their Aunt was yesterday. We were half expecting that if the judge chose to place them with the Aunt that the boys would go to her last night. Well, not the case. The judge did decide to place them with the Aunt. but we actually have the boys until Monday evening. So the good news is we will get to have them a few days longer than we originally thought. And we are really excited that the boys are going to such a wonderful person - a strong christian who wants both of them and is willing to make this a permanent thing....these boys need some permanency and stability in their lives, so we couldn't have prayed for anything better - other than them getting to stay with us of course. :)
The other "excitement" for this week is that I got to go to my first sonogram for Nicolas! I was incredibly nervous because I didn't know what to expect. I also wanted to make sure I didn't do anything to make the birth mother uncomfortable - like I don't know, start balling hysterically or something! :) When I got in to the room, they had just started the sonogram and the doctor was taking measurements, etc. Of course, it all mostly looked like black and white smudges on the screen, but as he continued his exam, I got to see everything from head to toe! AND....little Nicolas decided to stop being shy this time and he gave us a full on view of what could only be 100% certainty that he is a little boy! :) I also got to hear the blood flow in the umbilical cord (way cool!) and see the heart beating (also way cool!). After taking measurements, the doctor confirmed that Nicolas is currently 4 pounds and 1 ounce. The birth mother is at 34 weeks now. Everything else checked out normal with the exception of his head circumference. If I understand all of this correctly, Nicolas' head is about 10 weeks behind in development based on the head circumference. This news is not good. Basically, the skull is not developing fast enough to keep up with the brain. This means that the brain is going to be constricted and could cause some damage. We won't know more about what this means for Nicolas until he is born and they can do an MRI of his brain. Then we will have a better idea of what is in store for our little guy. The doctor would really only say now that what we saw in the sonogram confirms that Nicolas has "been affected by the CMV infection."
It is likely they are going to move the delivery (still shooting for July 14th) to Baylor in downtown Dallas (BUMC for you Baylor folk!) to allow for better specialist support for Nicolas after he is born. The system neonatology unit is "headquartered" there and there are a few more resources available a bit faster than at Baylor Irving where Patrick and I work (not that BMCI wouldn't do a wonderful job of caring for Nicolas of course!). The birth mother goes back in for another sonogram in about 2 weeks (I hope I can go to this one too!) and we can get a better idea of how Nicolas' head is developing as we get closer to the due date.
Till then, we are asking for all of your prayers for our little guys (Nicolas, and our two foster boys). These little guys are all in a struggle right now and could use every bit of prayer they can get. If you happen to remember them or can add them to your prayer list at church, we would be so grateful. We are of course also praying for the birth mother and her family, the boys' Aunt and her family and the boys' mother as well that she can kick this addiction and get her life in order. Our prayer list seems to be getting longer and longer everyday so please forgive me if we have missed anyone. As we have more news, we will be sure to keep you updated. Much love! (by the way, I saw red balloons FIVE times today after the sonogram! :) )
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