Growing, growing & more growing!!

Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. 1 Chronicles 16:8

Little man, Look at how far you have come!

You have been growing for a whole 38 weeks! Today was another scan day! No more scans for us!!!! Your'e doing so great! They estimate you at a whopping 8lbs!!!! and you still have 2 weeks to grow! How much bigger are you gonna get?! Of course, pictures of you are near impossible now because of how squished up you are in there!

Everything else on the scan seems to be much the same, and now we are just waiting for you to be here so we can know how you're doing! We are aching to hold you and waiting feels unending! 

The fluid around you is stable and you are ever so slightly engaged, so there is no rush to get you out - what a huge answer to prayer, because we know that you are safest in my belly for as long as possible! The fluid on your brain ventricles is unchanged, and when you are born they will need to do a brain ultrasound to know exactly what this will mean. But we are not worried, God has you in His care, and He has been faithful throughout! 

I feel BIG and heavy! Your growth sure stretches me out - its a wonder I am not bursting at the seams! I am uncomfortable, but I still LOVE growing you inside me! I love that you have a sleep pattern, and that I get to feel you respond to daddy's voice & how fruit makes you dance! You could be here in 2 weeks, or it could be as long as 4 weeks - but regardless, I am determined to savour these moments where its just us two! Before I have to share you with the world!

I cant wait to meet you Malakai....and I am aching to kiss your little cheeks!

Lots of love, 

Mamma xx

Celebrating You!!

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from our Father in heaven, who does not change like the shifting shadows... James 1:17

Malakai, 

36 Weeks along today - and the beginning of my maternity leave...its all getting very real! I am ever expanding.... I love seeing the constant growing - means you're doing great even if it does make me look like a hippo! 

Today we celebrated YOU! A little baby shower with close friends was thrown (By your wonderful aunt Becca!) I was very overwhelmed by how many people already love you and cant wait to meet you. It was wonderful to be surrounded by the lovely people that I know you will grow up knowing and loving. We feel so blessed to know that you have so many people looking out for you! God is incredibly good!

You were spoiled and you are not even earthside yet! We cant wait until you are actually here to make use of all these gifts :) 

You are our good and perfect gift from God - we cannot wait to have you in our arms!

Keep growing strong little man, there is lots of love and fun waiting for you here!!

Mamma xxx

The countdown has really begun!

He is the maker of heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them- He remains faithful forever! Psalm 146:6

My little man,

Here we are...32 weeks you and I - 32 weeks of growing you and loving you and hoping for you. All the while not knowing if each week would be the last, or whether it would bring us that much closer to finally holding you in our arms.

As I sit here I can feel you kicking, I think you are frustrated with the lack of space! I am extra aware of how cramped it is in there for you now, because today we had another growth scan and I have to be honest, I cant tell what I am looking at in this picture of you... I can see your umbilical cord and your knee...but your face is hard to see now!

You are BIG. 4lb 8oz is what they estimate right now. Crazy considering you still have a LOT of time to grow! The good news from the scan today, is that your heart and kidneys still look good. There are no visible issues. We are still faced with the borderline unilateral ventriculomegaly on your left ventricle. But it hasn't increased, which is a huge relief. Your left side is 10mm, which is almost double the right side, at 5.5mm, I'ts scary because until you come, we just don't know what this means...or if it even will have any importance. So for now, we have to just continue to trust God. He is faithful. He has been faithful throughout this pregnancy... and every time I think about you, I thank God for all his many blessings. All the things about you that he has made unique and special and perfect in His eyes. In our eyes too. We could not love you more little man, you are everything we have ever hoped for.

I can hardly believe that we are into the last 8 weeks of waiting. It finally feels like we are close to meeting you! Keep growing strong, we pray for you every day, and we love you more than we ever thought possible.

Love,
Mama xx

The fifth dimension is love!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinithians 5:17 (ESV)

Dear Kai,

We've seen you!

I know we've already seen you a lot but this time was different! Momma organised a special scan so that we could see you in 4D! It was pretty thrilling! Your momma had shown me photos of scans of other babies but I wasn't sure what you were going to look like. I guess I was a little nervous. With all the worries that we have had over the last few months I wasn't sure what to expect. It was good to feel all those worries disappear when we saw your little face for the first time.

Your momma and I have spent a lot of time talking about you, our hopes for your future, the consequences of scan results and what they may mean for you, lots of possibilities and "What if...?" questions. But to see your face reminded me of how very blessed we are to have you in our lives, even though you're still not going to be born for another 3 months!

God has been challenging me since your momma and I got married, that being a parent is tough because, even though we know that you are our child, we don't know you yet!

It seems like a funny thing to say, but it's good for us to remember that, as much as I may want you to be like your momma, or like your Grandma or your Oupa, the person you will be most like is... YOU! You are a unique person, created by our loving Creator and as you grow I hope that I never forget that your destiny is not to be like me, ("Jonny Jr." as some might say) but your destiny is to be a beautiful creation, dearly loved by God and a person that Jesus thought was worth dying for.

We pray every day that God will give us the strength, courage and humility to help you be a new creation!

You are a joy to behold, my son, and I will treasure every moment that you are in my life.

Daddy xx

God is faithful...

Your love O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness, to the skies. 

Psalm 36:5

Little Man, 

We're in the third trimester! Yay!! Today we went for another growth scan to make sure that your'e growing right, and to check up on the extra fluid on your brain! 

On the way to the hospital there was a big rainbow over Sheffield. It reminded me of Gods promises, and His faithfulness. I was filled with peace knowing that God has you in the palm of His hand...and though we know NOTHING, He knows everything about you already! 

You are NOT so little any more! Since we last saw you you have more than doubled in size! I am blown away. You are 27+2 and weighing in at 2lb10!! That is HUGE! I am so proud of all the growing you have done! (Partly due to all the ice lollies I have been eating I am sure!) You have gone from being below the 25th Percentile in limb length and weight, to being above the 50th Percentile! This fills us with so much joy, to know your'e growing at the right rate! 

Most excitingly, the unilateral ventriculomegaly (fluid on the left side of your brain) has reduced! Its now measuring 10mm, which is borderline! We are so grateful for this, and really surprised! :) You still have a great heart too! Its beating away at a great rate! 

You seem to be pretty laid back... I mean, you never keep still, but somehow you still looked like you were on a summer holiday in there with your little legs crossed and looking so chilled out! Taking after your dad more and more each time we see you! 

You growing on the inside means me ever expanding on the outside! I feel bigger every day, but not sure its hugely noticeable, but my belly button has gone from being an 'inny' to being almost an 'outy!' - weird!

Keep growing strong lil man! Only about 12 weeks til we get to hold you in our arms, we can hardly wait! 

Mama x