Abby, up close

This afternoon, Abby should have been eating, but I couldn't get that girl to wake up!  After trying every trick in the book, I finally gave up and decided to take pictures before the little bit of babyness she has is gone.  

Special thanks to Kim M (um, I mean...Kim L!) for the truly great and fab Modest Mommy Cover, which also doubled as my backdrop today.  =)

Ten beautiful toes: (See story below, if you have time!)

Cute baby arm hair:

* Early on in this pregnancy, several ultrasounds showed the appearance of a band in my uterus.  When the doctor at the international hospital mentioned it could possibly be an amniotic band, let me dispense a peice of advice:  if you are pregnant and those words are spoken to you, DO NOT get online and look up information on it.  It's scary and not terribly comforting.  

The general problem with this band is that if it spans your uterus, it can restrict the baby's growth.  The most common result is limbs that have stopped growing, because they were cut off from further growth.  Of course, there are more serious cases, but missing and/or deformed digits was the most common problem.  

At that point, things weren't very conclusive and we just had to keep monitoring it.  We did frequent ultrasounds to track the band and monitor its effect on the baby.  As time went on, it seemed to be less and less of a problem, though it was always still evident in the ultrasounds.  

Meanwhile...in the last year, I think the area of my life where I've had the most spiritual growth and progress has been in battling worry.  It seems like every time things come up that typically cause worry, the Lord has really helped me be faithful in praying about it and letting go of my fears and what-ifs.  I'm thankful that He spent many months preparing me in this area before any problem was detected with this pregnancy, because I felt confident in trusting Him with the situation.  Sure, I was concerned.  I sought the best medical advice and did everything we could do to be safe and prudent.  But I wasn't worried.

On the train ride to go back for our first follow-up appointment after the discovery of the band, I was praying about what we would find on the grainy screen and what implications it might have for our family and lifestyle.  I felt a wave of peace settle in my soul and heard a quiet voice say:  I love Abby and I delight in her!

Abby!  We still hadn't decided on a name, but this was one we had looked at.  We were going back and forth between several, but I loved the meaning of Abby:  Joy of the Father.  My prayer time during the train ride confirmed that Abby was the name of choice for our little one, no matter how many fingers and toes she would have.  The Lord took joy in her, and no matter what, we would too.

So, like I said before, as time went on the band seemed to be less and less of a problem.  We - and so many of you - rejoiced with us at the great reports.  And even though I was trusting, I wouldn't be totally at rest until she was born.  Healthy. Whole.  In my arms.  

And it happened - a healthy (sturdy, even!) sweet girl, made in the exact image she was made to be in.  Exactly how He planned for her to be.  As I took these pictures today, focusing on her feet, her eyes, her tiny baby hair, I breathed another prayer of thanksgiving for abby's physical wholeness and offered another one for her spiritual wholeness to come.