There is not much new to report. We have been told it really is a scenario of one day at a time. We are still in the hospital. That will not change until we take our baby girl home.

Today is Day 4 of our stay. According to our doctors' timeline (which is what we are going by now, as opposed to our timeline which is 3 days behind our doctors' as far as due date is concerned), we are 38 weeks and 3 days pregnant.

Our goal is to get to 39 weeks, which is Wednesday, November 9th. National studies have recently been done that show great brain and respiratory development for baby between 38 and 39 weeks. So, unless something more urgent would arise, they plan to keep her in me until then.

What happens then once we hit 39 weeks is still uncertain. There have been signs that prompted us to consider a c-section, and that is most likely the route we will take. Of course this was hard for me to imagine since this is not what we have envisioned for the last 9 months.

Tonight there are 2 nurses in our area whose only patient is me. This is very different from last night and today, as the unit was very busy with many babies. It is such a blessing because we were able to spend a long time chatting with them and asking them endless questions about what to expect with a c-section here. After getting a LOT of details and information, I feel so much peace.

God is good. We continually pray to feel His presence among us, and I feel He did that through these nurses.

We are blessed. We are surrounded by people who are looking out for me and Josh and our baby. We have had a great, healthy pregnancy for 9 months and are grateful that this bed rest and hospital stay are relatively short in the grand scheme of things.

I also realized that the mysteriously high blood pressure readings at our doctors' office (that went away as soon as we got the hospital each time) were what led us to be admitted to the hospital which led us to learn about Baby's issues of distress and umbilical cord problems. The astronomically high BP readings were actually a Godsend because without them I never would have been admitted to the hospital.

We are fortunate to have our families close and available to help with some meals for Josh, visits and care for me throughout the day while Josh is at work, as well as many other things we ask of them.

We appreciate your thoughts, comments, offers of help, and prayers. For those of you who have offered to help, we are still trying to figure out what we need most. One thing that comes to mind would be meals for Josh as he is fending for himself so much and is home only briefly between work and here, basically long enough to check the mail and pack another change of clothes for himself and anything else I need from home. If you feel so inclined, we would appreciate any gift cards for quick meals for him to grab on the go (for example, Jimmy Johns, Panera, Chickfila, Chipotle, Culver's, Starbucks, Martin's Supermarket). After we go home I know that we would continue to benefit from meals. Our church's care ministry team has offered to provide a handful, which we are grateful for. If anyone else wants to contribute, it would be greatly appreciated. We will probably know more needs as they arise later. Of course we expect to need some last minute baby stuff when she arrives, so Target gift cards would be a benefit for that.

Please know this is not an unsolicited begging for help. I just know many of you have offered assistance or asked how you can help, so these are just some things that came to mind.

Ways that you can pray for us would include:

• health and safety for baby, Josh and myself
• wisdom for Josh, myself, and the doctors
• physical and emotional strength for both Josh and I
  
• that we would commit our trust to the Lord for this and all circumstances
• continued peace and comfort from the Lord

Thank you all very much!