This is the blog for Gavin and Carrie Jones and family. We live in Papua New Guinea and are working to see lives transformed by the living Word of God through Bible translation. Gavin is a helicopter pilot. Carrie, who has her degree in Public Health, works in the lab at our busy rural clinic. Our son, Isaac, was born in 2004 and our quintuplets, Will, David, Marcie, Seth, and Grace, were born in 2012.

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. The you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all you heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. -Proverbs 3:3-6

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

MANY praises, one prayer

Hi all,

We are once again overwhelmed and humbled by your many emails and personal and phone assurances of prayer. THANK YOU. If this update seems late, we have a good excuse: Believe it or not, that appointment took 4 hours! Whew! And then lots of time in rush-hour traffic, plus good friends had us for supper (thanks, N&L!), and we had to get Isaac to bed. 

We are VERY grateful to report that no major issues of any sort were spotted with any of the babies. No markers for chromosomal abnormalities, heart/brain/cord defects, or anything at all wrong with their leg/arm anatomy - all have ten finger, ten toes, no clubbing, etc. All are still measuring right on or slightly ahead for gestational age (8 and 9 ounces), with perfect heartbeats. We are praising and thanking God! And again, thank YOU for praying!

There is, however, one issue for prayer with one of the babies: One of the girls has a potential problem with her kidneys not emptying properly (they looked a lot more noticeable than the other babies' on the ultrasound). The doctor originally said it looks like it could be "pyelectasis," but the extent of the swollen-ness of the kidneys is verging on possible "hydronephrosis." However, he said even if it was his baby he wouldn't lose any sleep over it. It's the single most "discovered"anomalous finding on fetal ultrasound, often doesn't end up being an issue at all, and even if it is, only 20% of cases require surgery, and then not usually until the baby is a few months old. She should be able to thrive until that point just fine, perhaps needing prophylactic antibiotics to prevent infection of the kidneys. Of course, in extreme cases surgery would be required earlier rather than later (if kidney function is compromised), and has even been done in utero, although is of dubious benefit at that point. 

So the prayer of course is that this is NOT an genuine medical issue with our little girl, merely a slightly aberrant finding that disappears or at least does not appear to worsen on subsequent ultrasounds and can be ruled out completely at birth. We pray that God would resolve this even now with His mighty yet tender Physician's hand, if there is indeed anything that needs to be resolved, and that our little girl will continue to thrive in utero as well as once she is born, always safely in His grip. 

Speaking of grip, we also heartily thank God that my anatomy still has a tight grip on all these babies. The doctor said he wouldn't have believed I'd be doing this well sat 18 weeks, and that I couldn't look better internally (the c. is around 5 cm long and completely closed - superior to most women carrying only one baby!). He didn't use the word "miraculous," but we know the prayers of hundreds of God's righteous saints are powerful and effective in this as in everything else affecting these babies from conception onward! All glory to Him, with many thanks again to those who have stood with us, near and far, and bathed us in prayer. 

By the way, who sent me this shirt? I love it! I got lots of comments on it today, needless to say. :) Isaac got a huge kick of out of it, too. Thank you!!

16 comments:

  1. We are so thankful for the wonderful news you have shared in this post. We have an almighty God and it is so comforting to know that He has all 5 of your little babies in his care. We will continue to pray for you fervently and for the little babies growing inside. Today Aliesha needed to take a 'Q' word to school as that is the letter of the week. We decided on the word quintuplets and she wrote a few sentences about her friend Isaac and that his Mum has five babies growing inside her tummy :) So you are definitely in all our thoughts and prayers!!!

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  2. That's so neat! Thanks for sharing. I love it that Aliesha and you all still think of and pray for us. We sure look forward to seeing you again some year! Blessings, Carrie

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  3. It is exciting to follow the testimony that God is writing for your family! Love the pic!

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  4. I love the picture - too cute. The twins (and Dan & I) are so excited to see you next week!! I was telling A&H the story of when we found out we had twins and referred to them as Baby A and B. Haley burrowed her eyebrows and said, I am not Baby B, I am Baby H. I told her she was Baby B before we had picked Haley. Then today we talked about Baby A, Baby B, Baby C, Baby D and Baby E in Aunt Carrie's belly...too cute!

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  5. So happy to hear the good report! So thankful that God is working miracles. The kids and I pray for you so often! Love you all! Amy Long

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  6. I'm so EXCITED!! Praise the Lord. Every time I think of God smirking over the idea of gifting you quints during the last five or six years of heartache, I just think of what a good giver he is. This has to be one of my provision stories . . I'll have to start working on this. :)

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  8. Glad to hear that things are going well! Love the shirt! :)
    ~Andrea Anderson

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  9. I came over here after Katrina has posted a few things about you. God bless and I will be praying for you all too. You look amazing!

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  10. Very cool. Praying for you in Grand Prairie, TX

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  11. We are so thrilled for you guys & miss you very much! I'm glad you have this blog to keep up posted. Praying for you!!!

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  12. So excited for you! May God continue to bless and encourage you as your bring these God created babies into this world...Keep your eyes on the Lord and He will give you the strength you need...Great news that the babies are all doing great!

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  13. Such a wonderful update - thanks for posting and we're so delighted to read that the quints look great! Praying that the Lord would keep your body strong through the next several months.

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  14. Wonderful to catch up with your news via a facebook link. Praising God for the miracle of how you are doing in your pregnancy. I have such lovely memories of you, Carrie -- such spunk and joy! The Lord continue to bless you ALL. Love, Gweni

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  15. Hi Carrie! Our little guy DJ (born 12/28) had the same kidney issue show up at the 20 week ultrasound. We had to go back for a few more ultrasounds before and after he was born, but the problem went away as he developed a little more (by 2 months or so.) Hopefully it will be the same with your daughter! We'll be praying! (Jamie Wacyk Wernet)

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Gavin, Carrie, Isaac, Will, David, Marcie, Seth, & Grace Jones

Gavin, Carrie, Isaac, Will, David, Marcie, Seth, & Grace Jones

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