"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9
This verse is one of my favorites as I am a very anxious person, especially about new journeys riddled with potential problems. This verse comes after Moses has died and it falls to Joshua to lead God's people into the promised land. How daunting that must have felt to Joshua. I feel like this new little one is coming after a long stay in the desert for our family. Instead of shrinking from all the potential issues facing baby, such as genetic anomalies, or myself with pain and in the potential future- contractions, I need to stay strong and remember who paves our path. God will guide us and stay with us
Today Mark and I returned to the office where we first received our Gideon's diagnosis. So many emotions are packed into those drives downtown to the Children's Mercy Fetal Health Center. I remember the route and the lingering feelings- what else are we going to learn about Gideon today? How will I be able to drive back home while feeling hazy from the impact of information. So when we made our appointment for today I semi-feared the visit.
God set up the timing of this visit beautifully as I celebrated 25 years cancer free just two days prior. I couldn't help thinking about that very different journey on my way to the appointment today. I passed Rainbow Blvd (the street KU Med is located on) and in my head I said "nanny nanny poo poo I don't have to see you."-the same phrase we'd scream at the street/exit if we were passing it on a trip or on our way to a fun outing when I was a kid. How wonderful that now I can look so far back on that time in my life and remember but no longer fear for the future. I know in my heart that we will never forget Gideon but we become more and more acclimated to life while still missing him. However sometimes the vivid memories of Gideon are triggered.
When we first got to the appointment-technically Mark was right on time- I was a bit late since I didn't accurately judge the amount of time I needed to get there, park, and get through security. The genetic counselor met with us to begin our appointment. She chatted with us a little about the fact that this baby is only a day off from Gideon's due date. Then she began by asking us to catch her up by going over all that had gone on with Gideon since we last saw them in December. It caught me off guard that I'd be rehashing everything with Gideon. My mind had been on moving forward with this pregnancy and not about Gideon in regards to this particular appointment.
We told her how because of Gideon's size and the amount of amniotic fluid I was carrying that labor lasted much longer than expected. That Gideon was able to dodge the contractions by swimming away whenever they hit me. That our doctor intended to create a slow leak but it came out like a flood. How he was born quietly without breathing but had a faint heart beat for a short period of time but we got the time we wanted with him-however that time will never be enough for us.
I wanted to know how much to hang my hopes on this blood test and our overall chances so I asked if she knew the official stats on it.-Mark thought it was funny that the non-math person was wanting the numbers. In this instance numbers help me to gauge how to react to whatever results we receive back. Basically it works out that we can rest easy with a negative on any of the results coming up, which is our best case scenario anyway. But if we receive a positive for Trisomy 18 there is only an 18% chance of baby actually having Trisomy 18-so a positive is not for sure! (On the off chance that baby does show up positive we can do an amniocentesis in 2 more weeks following the results) Also we learned that the gender predictions are not absolutely correct either-so that killed my plan to do some consignment sale shopping for baby beyond gender neutral things.
For anyone wondering, even 25 years after remission or 22 years after chemotherapy ended, my veins are still shot. The nurse brought in the equipment to draw my blood and I immediately noticed that they were not using a normal butterfly needle but the needle they use to start IVs. The nurse said that apparently if you use too small of a needle to draw it, it can distort the DNA and we would have to repeat the whole appointment again in 2 weeks. It took a couple tries and two nurses to find a good vein, but they got all the blood they needed to send away. The lab will be looking at my blood because some of baby's DNA is mixed in with mine, so they will not separate our DNA but look at the copies together to see if there are any anomalies. As a former biology geek I'm in awe of how much technology has advanced to help ease the minds of mothers and fathers who have been through what we have been,
So our results for the test will not come back in for another 2 weeks. Thankfully these next two weeks are pretty jam packed with things to keep me busy including getting Will and Olivia ready for the first day of school. We also have Luke's 3rd birthday approaching as well. Even a fun double date to see Jim Gaffigan live!
I felt all the prayers from those covering us today. I was much more at peace than I expected and even when rehashing Gideon's birth and death I didn't get as chocked up about it as I normally do. I know God is in it with us for the long haul. No matter the results we will continue to walk with Him and continue to praise His name.
An old but good worship song came on the radio as I was taking the kids to visit some friends to hang out and swim while I was to go with Mark to the appointment. Certain lyrics really stand out to me at the intersection of my 25 years of remission and 6 months (on the 31st) without our little boy.
From the song Blessed be your name by Matt Redman:
Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's all as it should be
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name
Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
And when the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name