21 Weeks Yesterday

Dear Friends and Loved Ones,

God bless you on this bright sunny Tokyo morning.

Rachel and Isaac celebrated their 21st week yesterday. As we have been trying to take this journey one day at a time, it is hard to comprehend that we've been living at Aiiku Hospital for 3 weeks already. (There are some telltale signs. Almost all of the security guards seem to recognize me so I don't have to embarrass myself by trying to explain that I'm a "guesto" at the hospital versus a "bisita"). As no one here thought that Rachel and Isaac would make it even this far, Sonia and I continue to praise God and look to him to deliver them to us many weeks from now.

While they are still in-utero, it has been such a great blessing being able to pray with and for them these past few weeks. In so many ways, they have really brought Sonia and me as well as our extended family so much closer together. Sonia and I have noticed that our prayers have become more sincere, meaningful and conversational. While I'm sure it seems silly, I try to pray as close to the babies as possible as I think they can hear now. It is truly amazing how God is using Rachel and Isaac to glorify His name and for that we are grateful and humbled.

As Sonia mentioned in our last blog, Isaac looks like he's doing ok and benefitting from the home cooked meals that Sonia's mom and dad have been preparing for Sonia to supplement what appears to be a relatively low calorie - high fiber diet that the hospital provides (the fiber I understand as staying regular is tough for pregnant women supposedly but the lower calorie thing seems to confirm that the Japanese medical establishment likes to have smaller babies at birth). In any event, while Sonia's tummy is struggling to keep up which is harder on Rachel, we're hoping that the extra calories Sonia is consuming will help the babies grow as fast as possible as we are almost literally in a race against eventual infection or contraction.

Based on the latest ultrasound, Isaac could actually be over a pound which is wonderful news. I know that we are many many weeks away from being able to talk about a relatively normal birth for Isaac but at 500 grams, Isaac could be near 23 weeks in development which would be a minor miracle.


Rachel continues to fall a little behind unfortunately. She's about a week behind now but I think the bigger concern is that she really has no space and with both growing she'll find it more and more difficult without amniotic fluid.

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We just came back from another cleaning that turned into an examination (Dr. Sakamoto instructed folks not to do any more digital exams but this lady doctor apparently dances to her own beat). If what she says is correct, it appears that Rachel has descended a bit more into the cervix which poses a pretty big problem.

Is God is trying to see if these three weeks have really meant something to us? I can only imagine how many promises and prayers He receives from desparate people ("jailhouse conversions") that last about one minute longer than the crisis. These past couple of days, I fear that Sonia and I have started to hope a little more and perhaps get ahead of ourselves. More importantly, I think we've gotten a little more possessive about Isaac and Rachel increasingly imagining actually sharing a life with them on earth. Both are mistakes and I pray that God's gentle reminder is just that and not an indication of something worse. If it is this hard to truly lift up to Him babies that had no chance of survival three weeks ago, how hard must it have been and how much faith must Abraham have had to place his beloved son on the altar? We pray that all of this isn't temporary and that Isaac and Rachel are making a permanent and positive change in our relationship with God.

Thank you again for all of your prayers and support. I am sure that this battle would have been over already without His army surrounding us.

We continue to pray and hope for His mercy for Rachel and Isaac and forgiveness and grace for Sonia and Me.

Blessings,

Jong