Steph still in Hospital

Hi,

At the moment things are going worse for Steph, but we still thank the Lord that the baby is doing great and the situation isn't yet threatening to either Steph or the baby. In the night last night she had worse bleeding so she is on complete bed rest in the hospital. From there there's really not much more news. The doctor just says we have to be patient and very careful. Every day counts right now because it's a time when the baby is really growing a lot.

Of course the turn for the worse was a disappointment. Yesterday the bleeding had stopped and the doctor seemed somewhat hopeful that he might release Stephanie today or tomorrow knowing that we have a place to stay within fifteen minutes of the hospital. I assume now that
she'll be in the hospital into the first of next week at least.

Thank you so much for your prayers. It seems like the trend is towards the worse, so we really appreciate knowing many people are praying for us and that God is in control.

Love,

Glenn

Update on Steph

Hi everyone,

I think most of you know already, but Steph's back in the hospital in Bloem again because of more bleeding. :-( Fortunately it's still not serious, but it must be monitored. The doctor said the baby weighs between 1.5 and 1.6 kilograms now, and he hopes it will reach 2 kg at least if it is born before full term. It seems that there is still a good chance that the problem will fix itself, so we must just be patient. I assume she'll be in the hospital several days again, and we'll probably stay in Bloem until we're fairly sure the problem is fixed. Hopefully that won't be until September!!!!

Love to all,

Glenn

Steph

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick note to let you know that Steph is out of the hospital and
we are back home at Matukeng. We are much relieved that she got out.
The doctor wants to see her in just over a week and he told her to take
it easy. She's not supposed to lift anything heavy, exercise, etc. I
think kind of jokingly the doctor said she could make tea and knit or
crochet.

Maybe later we can write more, but this will let you know what's going on.

Thanks so much for your prayers!

Glenn

Update on Steph

Hi everyone!

We were hoping maybe Steph would be released today, but her doctor is off, and I think he'll want to see her before they let her out. So she's in another day. The bleeding has stopped and both her and the baby are doing great. The doctor said the placenta is not covering the cervix at all, and he hopes that it will move up like it normally does. The problem occurs when the placenta is too low and the stretching uterus starts to pull a little bit of it loose causing the bleeding.

Kaitlyn and I stayed with friends (Uncle Attie and Aunt Meriel Louw) who used to live in Ladybrand but have moved to Bloemfontein recently. They live in a retirement community/game park. It is very nice. We saw springbok, gemsbok, and red hartebees this morning before breakfast.

Love to all and thanks for your prayers!

Glenn

Steph in Hospital

Hi everyone,

I'm at an internet cafe, and I'm not sure I have everyone's e-mail
addresses correct. Feel free to pass this on to anyone who would be
interested. Mr. Howard, could you please pass this on to Michelle
Asbell. I don't have her e-mail address.

Thursday night Steph had some bleeding. It wasn't a lot, but her doctor
wanted to see her asap on Friday. He put her in the hospital for
observation until the bleeding stops. She has a placenta previa, but it
is only a grade 1. The placenta is not covering the cervix at all, but
it is lower than it should be. This problem should fix itself
hopefully. There's nothing the doctor can do to treat it, and there's
nothing Steph could have done to prevent it. At the moment it is not
terribly serious, but if the placenta doesn't move up like it should,
then it could result in serious bleeding. If that happens, then of
course the doctor will have to take the baby. Fortunately the baby is
far enough along that with the neo-natal ICU in Bloemfontein at the
hospital where we go the baby has a a very good chance to live even
now. Every day improves that outlook.

As far as we can tell the bleeding has stopped. Steph's doctor is off
this weekend and a partner saw her this morning and said everything
seems OK. I doubt if she will be discharged until Monday, however. The
doctor may limit her activity at least some once he discharges her, and
I'm sure he will be seeing her pretty often. We'll try to keep in touch
one way or another to let you know what is happening.

Steph is feeling fine and doing well emotionally. She said she got a
good night's rest last night in spite of the nurses checking her and the
baby every four hours. Fortunately Kaitlyn is a daddy's girl, so we're
doing fine, too. I tried to do her hair this morning and that didn't go
so well. It looked about the same after I finished as before! :-)

Love to all. Thanks for your prayers!

Glenn