There are no words...

Ok, maybe there are words but none of them seem to do justice to the awe I am feeling right now at how good God is!  Today, I went in for my 24 week check up.  On Monday, I had an MRI done to look more closely at the placenta to see exactly how it is attached and how extensive the separation is.  I also had an ultrasound done yesterday to check baby's growth.  At my last ultrasound three weeks ago, she was measuring in the 14th percentile for overall size. The goal was to keep her from dropping below the 10th percentile, a situation which would have required weekly ultrasounds with new doctors at a high risk clinic.  Well this morning, my doctor went over the results of all of these tests with me.  And guess what?  Our baby truly is a miracle! She is now measuring in the 50th percentile for size.  Did that register?  She went from the 14th percentile to the 50th in just three short weeks!  As for the MRI results and the ultrasound, they no longer see any damage to the placenta.  In fact, I think the MRI report said something along the lines of "there is no evidence of any damage to the placenta."  Did that register?  No damage visible.  People, this does not happen.  After the devastating 15 week ultrasound, my doctor told me there was a 10% chance baby would survive.  The damage to the placenta would not heal.  The hope was that the new growth of the placenta would sustain baby's life, but the part that had separated would shrivel up and look calcified should she make it to full term.  Right now, the placenta looks perfectly normal.  I can't even begin to describe how amazed I am at God's protection of this little life.  And I can't really grasp how perfectly He designed our bodies.  To be able to recover from something so dire and to not only protect the baby inside of me, but to allow her to grow and thrive under such conditions is amazing.  I am truly in awe.   Do you know what this means?  NO MORE BED REST!!  As long as she continues to grow at a good rate and there is no more bleeding, my doctor thinks I can safely resume a normal life (within reason).  I still have to take it easy and can't do any strenuous exercise, but she thinks I can safely take care of my boys by myself!  Oh man.  You have NO idea how amazing that feels!  I think we all (including all of our family members who have been taking care of my entire life for me) need normal life back more than we realized.  It's hard to not want to tackle everything at once, though.  I am going to have to force myself to slowly ease back into things.  But even using the stairs on my way out of the doctor's office and coming home and doing a load of laundry and sweeping my house feels like a huge treat!  So now, we pray that she continues to grow and we don't have any further bleeding or complications.  But I am praising God for His incredible blessing and protection.  He has blown me away!

Here, take a peek at our beautiful daughter:

Also, take a peek at the growing (thankfully!)  baby bump:


P.S. Every time I look at that picture of myself, I can't help but think that the combination of the mirror and iPhone is a bit misleading.  I don't look nearly that tall or trim in real life.  You can always tell by the sideways fingers.  When they look extra short and stubby sideways, you know the image is being lengthened somehow.  But really, it's probably better that way.  No pregnant mama needs a mirror that makes her look shorter and wider than she is.  ;)