Lots of Family News!

There has been a lot going on with our family lately.
About two weeks ago, Mackinzie started having this pink-ish rash on her face and arms and legs. She cheeks were so rosey that it looked like she had been slapped in the face. Sure enough, it turned out to be Fifth disease. The illness sounds a lot worse than it really is. Mackinzie never felt sick or had any other problems, other than the rashes, which also didn't seem to bother her. The biggest problem with Fifth disease, is it can be extremely harmful to unborn babies under twelve weeks along, which is just about where Laura is with our current pregnancy. It can cause a condition called Hydrops with the fetus and potential miscarriage. Needless to say, we were initially frightened and expected the worst when Laura tested positive for Fifth disease. We met with a genetics counselor at GBMC on Friday to discuss the issues. The counselor was able to ease many of our fears by telling about the percentages and such. That same day we had another sonogram and as you can see, the baby was a-okay! It looked like it was waving to us as if to say, "I'm doing okay in here". Our next steps are to have bi-weekly sonograms for the next 10 weeks to keep and eye on the baby to make sure that none of the symptoms of Fifth or Hydrops take effect.

We have greatly appreciated the many prayers and thoughts that have come our way over the past few days. We would just like to ask for continued prayer for the baby and our family as we go through the next few weeks. Friday's sonogram greatly improved our feelings on the whole ordeal, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we're out of the dark just yet.

In lighter news, our family got into the Halloween spirit for my brother's annual costume party. Mackinzie had been wanting to dress like Yoda (from Star Wars) for a long time now, so she finally got her chance on Saturday night. Of course, Daddy and Mommy had to join in on the fun! I dressed as Han Solo and Laura as Princess Leia.

We had a great time hanging out in Will's spooky basement. It was decorated with lots of colored lights and pumpkins, skeletons, witches, and other Halloween standards.

Kinzie enjoyed dancing to the loud music!

Here is Laura/Princess Leia with my brother, dressed as Ravens head coach, John Harbaugh.

Our friend Justin is a big Halloween freak! He loves all kinds of horror movies and everything that goes along with it. He and his wife, Sam, co-hosted the party at Will's house. In fact, pretty much all of the Halloween decorations belonged to Justin.

Kinzie got the point later in the night where she wanted to take her Yoda costume off. So she changed into her pajamas and played Starfall on Brittany's computer for the rest of the night. She impressed many of the guests with her keyboard and mouse skillz.

So that was our weekend. We are all doing great and we're staying very positive about the baby situation. We know that our prayers and yours are being heard and we're putting it all in God's hands.
Thank you all again!

-Bert