Amnio Results

Friends,
It has been very encouraging this past week as many of you have asked us for an update ... it’s apparent that you are praying for us -- THANK YOU! We are relying on those prayers as we find it hard to pray for ourselves at times.

So this week we got results from the amniocentesis. Samuel’s chromosomes are normal.

This means he’s not a Trisomy. Which means that the hole in his heart and his cleft lip are not the results of a universal chromosomal disorder. While this may sound like very exciting news, we aren’t exactly turning cartwheels because that’s all the more we know -- what it’s not. But so it goes in this life. We don’t get universal knowledge, indeed we couldn’t handle such things.

What is most likely going on is that Samuel has some genetic disorder which may yet manifest itself in other ways. This is all rather confusing to me, but I think the basic deal with genes & chromosomes is this. Chromosomes (Samuel’s got 2 pairs of 23) are made up of Genes (of which Samuel’s got millions). Chromosomal disorders are almost all of them lethal because they are so universal in scope. One problem with one chromosome and everything is effected. Genetic disorders are not as lethal because they tend to be less universal. Most of us carry a bunch of messed up genes. However, genetic disorders can manifest themselves at various points in a person’s development and in various ways. So ... here’s why we’re not turning cartwheels necessarily - we are going to have to live by faith day to day as Samuel enters the world and (we trust) grows and develops as opposed to knowing exactly what he’s got and how it will effect his development and our own lives. It seems that God, in his always good providence, has decided to not reveal to us (at this point) all the ins and outs of our son’s genetic makeup. Our Father is quite resolute in seeing that we trust him daily, which is the best place for us.

Once Samuel is born, they can run blood tests that are apparently more informative than was the amniocentesis. The geneticist may be able to give us a better feel for what Samuel’s got at that point, but maybe not much more than “It seems to be in this family of disorders.” The due date is March 8th. We’ve got an appt with the cardiologist on Wednesday of this coming week. He will determine (once he looks at the hole in Samuel’s heart) what course of action we will need to take as far as where and when to deliver, when (if ever) to do surgery, etc.

So, we’ve got some answers but not all.

Please do continue to pray for Samuel’s development, that we’d have wisdom in making any necessary decisions, that Sara’s discomfort would be bearable, that we would love one another well, that God would grant us the faith to trust him for “strength for today.”

Alas, some trust in medical knowledge; some in amnio results; but we must trust in the name of the Lord our God - he simply gives us no other choice. And it is good.
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