a happy freckle

Today we were scheduled to see Shirley to check on Freckle. She had told us on Friday night that if we still had a little beating heart today, then the prognosis would become much more positive. However, when we saw her today, we could not pick up a heartbeat (or even any definitive sounds of fetal movement). We had gone there full of confidence and hope and it was devastating for me. I felt sure that at 12.5 weeks (days away from the end of the first trimester) no heartbeat and no fetal movement were very bad signs. Richard was still full of confidence and hope. Shirley encouraged us not to give up, but again refrained from giving us unfounded confidence.
We had three hours to wait until the ultrasound technician had an opening for us. It felt like much longer. But, in the end, our patience was rewarded a hundredfold. Freckle was jumping around, totally refreshed from his long afternoon nap deep in the recesses of the womb, very VERY much alive and well. I can't thank and praise the Lord enough for giving me this same child three times now. Naturally, we hope that this is the end of the "exciting" period of the pregnancy and that the following months are very boring and routine. We were very grateful to be totally surrounded in prayer by so many people during the past week and we know that all those prayers contributed to the very happy ending to our story. Thank you to everyone who prayed for us, wrote us wonderfully personal & encouraging emails and showed such concern and love for us and our unborn baby.