Thank you all for your prayers for today's appointment in St. Louis. We left today maintaining our strong faith in a healing from the Lord. A few details-- first the not-as-good news: amniotic fluid is pretty much not evident at this point. There was a little measured for the last appointment, but the trend has continued of there not being fluid. We pray that this trend will be reversed. On the positive side, the doctors believe the best option is to give the baby time to grow before delivery. That means it is looking more like the baby can get to full term (37 weeks). The baby's heart rate is good too. Although it can be a challenge for a baby's lungs to develop without amniotic fluid, we believe that Will is strong and a fighter. We also feel this gives more time for prayer and healing! Lastly, we have developed a habit of stopping by a Culver's outside of St. Louis after appointments. We must report that today's flavor of the day, Brownies and Cream, is fantastic. In a couple of months, a new Culver's will be opened about two minutes away from our home. We are in big trouble.

There will be a full ultrasound done for our next appointment which will be on Friday, September 7. They will check the baby's growth at that time.

Today would have been our daughter Natalie's 9th birthday. Although her life was short, we are thankful for every day we had with her. We love her and miss her dearly.

As our family was being prayed for in church on Sunday, Kari could really feel the presence of God wash over her and the baby. We fully believe God's hands are on this situation, and we continue to look to Him for healing.

We are in the middle of transforming our old home office into a nursery for the baby. We've been refinishing furniture for the room and will soon paint the ceiling and walls. Because it is going to be Will's room, we felt especially led pray and claim God's word there. We decided to write scriptures on the walls of the room, claiming healing and faith. We are inviting family and friends to contribute. Of course, the words will be painted over soon with the redecorating, but we we will continue to believe in them.

Our appointment today in St. Louis went well. Although it was only a check-up, we did find out that the baby's heart rate is very good. Additionally, the medical staff there agreed that the baby's movement is a positive sign. As mentioned in the last post, we are hopeful that the amniotic fluid levels have risen greatly. Our next appointment will now be on Friday, August 24. An ultrasound will be done on that day. Thanks for your prayers!

Today marks the baby being 29 weeks gestation. We are praying that he will be full-term (at least 37 weeks) before needing to be born. Of course, we also believe God can heal Will and that he could be delivered even later.

On Wednesday we make another trip to St. Louis. This time the schedule looks like this:

10 a.m. - Meet with urologist
11:40 a.m. - Meet with Maternal-Fetal Medicine

The urologist will likely be giving us scenarios based on his team's approach to this disease and means for intervention. We anticipate that some of the scenarios will paint a dark picture, but we believe we will have positive results in the end. Maternal-Fetal Medicine will do a check-up on Kari to see how things are progressing.

No ultrasound is scheduled for this visit, but we do have a report of our own: Will has been moving around a lot the last couple of days. We are praying and believing that this is partly due to a significant increase in the amniotic fluid levels.

Thank you all for your continued support, encouraging verses, and prayers.

We've had many people tell us that they've tried to post comments at this site but were unable to. Unfortunately, there must be some sort of technical glitch with the site. Please know that your efforts to leave encouraging comments are appreciated so very much. If you're having trouble posting comments, please feel free to e-mail us those words at prayforwill07@yahoo.com. If it is something you'd like to share for everyone to see, we can even copy your words and paste them in the text of our blogs. Thanks!

Proverbs 4:20-23 My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body.

We were so blessed upon our return to find that two major home projects had been completed for us! Special thanks to the Eric, Julie, Dave, Lori, Karli, Kayli and Bruce for all of their efforts. We couldn't think of a better surprise. Check out the pics of our brand new office and the work on our kitchen. We are so very encouraged by the prayers and actions of our friends and family.
Thank you all!

Greetings from St. Louis! The doctors here confirmed the previous diagnosis of the polycystic kidneys. Although the amniotic fluid is still low, it measured a bit greater than the previous week. The doctors believe the best route is to allow the baby to continue to grow and develop rather than inducing at this point. That news was certainly encouraging. Will needs his lungs to develop which can be a challenge with low amniotic fluid. We believe this gives us more time to pray! Our next appointment will be back here in St. Louis on August 15. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support.

This morning we went to the church and were prayed for by the elders. It was an encouraging and uplifting time. We continue to be touched by the dedicated people who are praying for our situation. We are believing in a complete healing of Will.

We leave Sunday afternoon for St. Louis. The appointments are early on Monday, and the reports will be good.

James 5:14-15 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

JEHOVAH-JIREN
Provider
Genesis 22:14

JEHOVAH-NISSI
Battle Fighter
Exodus 17:15

JEHOVAH-SHALOM
Giver of Peace
Judges 6:24

JEHOVAH-ROPHE
Healer
Exodus 15:26

JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU
Our Righteousness
Jeremiah 23:6

JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH
Ever Present One
Ezekiel 48:35

JEHOVAH-ROHI
Good Shepherd
Psalm 23:1

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.

Hebrews 10:35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.