Ellie Progress 5/21 (34 weeks)

**Sorry to those of you who already got this same message via email. I don't have time to do a unique post about our appointment today so copy/paste it is! :)


Thank you ALL for the prayers. We have decent-ish news and good news and news we can still be praying about (none if it is really new news, though.)

The decent/poor news first so we can end on a good note:

-Ellie's jaw is still recessed, but her stomach bubble is present so they do believe that she is swallowing at least some. We can continue to pray for development and growth here!

-Her hands still appear to be turned in (we didn't look in depth at her feet this time) but she was moving around a LOT--to the point that the ultrasound technician was having to catch her in between big stretches to get good measurements. :) Keep praying for those joints!

-There seems to be slight swelling around her brain still but nothing too concerning at this point

The positive!

-Ellie's heart is looking great. No holes, no abnormalities, blood flow there is great. PRAISE.

-Ellie grew a half a pound! This is the best she's done from appointment to appointment in terms of growth....it's the first appointment that she hasn't fallen further behind!! This is great news..pray that she keeps up this growth and EVEN MORE--pray for growth spurts. It was encouraging to finally hear the doctor say that they've "delivered babies smaller." 

The extra-positive: Today the doctors told us that she is indeed "resilient," a "fighter," and that she's "thrown them a curve ball." This was beautiful to hear as the last two appointments have been filled with more negativity. We are thankful that she has a Father in Heaven who is fighting for her! 

Other positive factors: we got to talk a tad about the birthing portion of things as we're getting close to the end. They are VERY flexible (for a high risk hospital situation) in terms of honoring our desires for the birth--in the way of medication, monitoring, autonomy, etc. We will absolutely have to sacrifice here and there depending on how Ellie does with it all, and we will absolutely tailor what we have to so she has the best outcome, but it was nice to hear that they won't jump in and intervene too proactively.

That being said, the main thing they are looking at to determine if/when I need to be induced is the blood flow and growth. Her growth clearly hasn't given any reason at all to take her out yet--quite the contrary, they want her to stay in as long as possible if her growth keeps up like this. The blood flow (through the cord AND through her body) is the other factor and they will continue to monitor that at each visit. It did not seem as if it was a stretch for the doctor to say that I may indeed be able to go into labor naturally if things keep up and keep stable (HUGE prayer request here.)

Our next appointment is in exactly 2 weeks, at which time I will be 36 weeks along.

KEEP PRAYING-it makes a difference! God hears us! He taught us to pray and ask and keep asking! We are just being obedient to His word. :)

We will never know where she'd be without all these prayers, but I'm telling you--all of the evidence points to the fact that God is sustaining her and covering her every second.

We love you all!

Trusting in the "God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not!"

-the Tate 3!

We shall not die, but LIVE.......

Read this, immediately thought of our Ellie, and immediately went into prayer for her again:

"The enemy always attempts to thwart what God is doing by stopping the generation in which a move of God is occurring. If the sacrifice and dedication of the Christians in a particular generation prevent him from stopping the advancement of God's Kingdom, he will resort to his number two tactic. It is simply this: to work to keep the vision from being passed on to the next generation."

We do believe fully that in God's kingdom there is no sickness, pain, or death. Ellie's sickness is not God's plan. We live in a fallen world and it has not yet been made new--but one day it will be. In the meantime, we will pray the way Jesus taught us to:

To our Father who resides in Heaven and whose name is above all names! To bring His Kingdom to Earth so that Earth will be as it is in Heaven. Why would He have taught us to pray this way if He didn't desire for this Earth to truly look like Heaven?

So as Ellie's parents, that is our call, and we invite you again to join with us in this prayer for her. We have been so blessed by the hundreds and hundreds who have been lifting her up in faith. Do we think it's made a difference?

Well--a couple months ago they told us she was likely going to die. And she's still alive.

So yes. We do.

Random things and Mother's day.

More daily life conversations with Chris Tate:

me:  blehhhhhhhhh sometimes pregnancy just makes you feel like a huge beluga whale and there's nothing you can do about it.
chris: but you're MYYY beluga whale.
me:    hahaha......................thanks.

*a couple hours later, Chris is reading from the pregnancy/childbirth section of his nursing book*

chris: See, Jordan, listen to this. (Begins to read aloud all sassy-like as if to prove something)"In the first trimester of pregnancy, many women are happily anticipating the changes their bodies will take on. In the second and third trimesters, the enlargement of the stomach area and breasts can lead patients to develop a negative self-concept.
me: Exactly. (Now I have an excuse. It's scientific.)

__________________________________________________________

It's my first mother's day! Man! The Lord poured out so much love and joy over me and Ellie this morning during worship. I couldn't help but smile. I'm tellin ya...she's definitely still growing. I don't really care if it's not enough to impress doctor doom-and-gloom in Spartanburg (not the good ones....the other one...) because I'm pretty sure I feel EVERY.OUNCE. Especially at night when it's getting harder and harder to get comfortable. And although it's still really tough--each day that she's still alive is just so wonderful because we're getting closer and closer to my actual due date and they totally didn't think she'd make it this far. Times like these make me wish I could go back in time and tell teenage Jordan that one day it will pay off to be so strong willed...and then tell teenage Jordan that now is not that time and that she should give her poor mom and dad a break and save all of the strong willed-ness for when she really needs it.

Which leads me to write about my mom (my dad is totally included in all of this but it's mother's day so he'll have to wait his turn.) My momma experienced pregnancy and delivery 5 times. That's a lot of labor. That equals a lot of weeks or morning sickness and beluga-feeling-syndrome and a LOT of contractions. She also had to experience losing her first daughter. I hope she doesn't mind me announcing that..but let me tell you, it is such a testimony to the healing power of Jesus and a testimony to her strength. She and my dad met Jesus after they experienced that tragedy. That means that they didn't KNOW him and his comfort until AFTER she was gone. Literally--cannot fathom the pain. The pain Chris and I feel and have felt related to all of this Ellie stuff is so deep and exhausting--and we're walking through it with a deep understanding of the love of Jesus. My parents didn't have that then. And then all of the sudden he used their friends to lead them to Christ who began to redeem and restore them and then they just became this amazing, strong, wise, courageous couple who grew tremendously from a trauma that the majority of people will never have to face. And NOW they are just able to use that to minister so deeply to Chris and I (and so many others). They don't even have to say the right words because you can see in their eyes that they know this kind of hurt....and even more so....and they also know that God is faithful and powerful and that he WILL continue to carry us because he has continued to carry them. It's just incredible.

On a much lighter note--my Mom is just so compassionate and understanding and brave. She is the best listener and she likes to say that I'm strong-willed like my Dad but secretly everyone knows that she's a fighter and she is responsible for a whole lot of that sass and boldness I get in trouble for. So is my Dad, though. The lines are so blurry...what a silly combination of genes and personality I have in me from them. Ha!

Mom. I seriously seriously seriously love you so much....and just being pregnant has so dramatically increased my appreciate of you as a mother. I can't imagine what it'll be like after many children--but I do know that my love for you can only get stronger! You are a beautiful beautiful daughter of the Kingdom! I am so blessed to have you as my mommy. Ellie sure is one lucky duck to get such wonderful grandparents.

JOY//5.11.13

Bahhhh pregnant belly! Pregnancy..man it teaches you so much about appreciating your body and the things it is capable of. FULLY believing that tomorrow is the first of MANY mother's day celebrations with my Ellie girl. 

And just a few photos from our anniversary celebration in Atlanta. I ended up not taking as many as I normally I do but partially because it was PACKED at the aquarium and I didn't feel like messing with my camera in the chaos of the crowds.  

(Heyyyyy, best dimple EVER.)

FREE anniversary churros from Alma Cocina. :) Soooo yummmmy:

Going to sleep next to this face NEVER ever ever ever ever gets old. Ever.

Off to half-enjoy my Saturday. Only half because my better half is spending his day at clinicals on the labor and delivery floor at the hospital. I need to document this mostly because I'm betting with myself that when he comes home today he's going to say, "Jordan. I can totally deliver Ellie myself. Let's do this." And then he'll try to slip contraction inducing herbs into all of my drinks so he can test his skills.

Just kidding.

But maybe.

Similar but not completely the same as when he walked out of somewhere in the house with some kind of torturous needle contraption (I think they call them "syringes") full of saline solution so he could wait until I fell asleep to stick all of my veins. (No he didn't actually do that but he thought about it, I just know it.)

The very same veins he is strangely enamored with since he has begun nursing school. The day he told me I had attractive arm veins was the day I said you're probably in the right field and also you're really creepy. "But Jorddannnn they are so juiiicccyyy." Yeah. Juicy and full of blood that I need for SURVIVAL so back off. Does anyone else have these problems? Probably not.

Onward with my day with the Elliebellyyyyy.

Ellie 5/7/13

We have the most lovely midwife. We are just so sad that we probably won't be able to deliver with her anymore because we're high risk--but we're still meeting with her and I am so happy that we are. Seeing her was such a necessary break from the high-risk-hospital-pregnancy-world.

We got a little freaked out because we hadn't felt Ellie move in a while.........a good while. Don't worry or be offended if you normally get Ellie updates and didn't know about this, we didn't announce it because we didn't want to scare anybody and we were out of town celebrating our anniversary (of course.) So we called our midwife and ended up meeting her at the birthing center once we got back home and we heard the little nuggets heartbeat and all is well. The midwife said that sometimes babies can go into small little cycles of being not as active and it's perfectly normal....but understandably frightening--especially in our situation.

She talked with us until 9pm and offered to let me take a doppler home so I could listen to her whenever I got scared (I declined because that's all I'd do) but she just encouraged us so deeply. Ellie's heart rate was wonderful and my belly is actually measuring just slightly below normal, which is so encouraging. Anyways--apparently when we called Amy to tell her we hadn't felt Ellie, she stopped and prayed with the people she was with (on a precious Sunday night that we stole from her schedule and of course she didn't even care.)

Anyways, she listened for a good while to her heart, felt for her position, and kept her hand on my belly until she felt her kick the palm of her hand. It was so sweet. And today Ellie is just back to her normal wiggly self which I just love. Such wonderful and constant reminders of her existence and of how far she's already gone past the physicians' expectations. Keep on, Ellie!

In other news: we had a BLAST at the aquarium because lets just be real; few things are more awesome than staring at huge whale sharks and beluga whales and dolphins and bright jellyfish and pondering how creative God is...and there is something so peaceful about sea creatures. The way they move...water...the quiet...it's just amazing. We ate a fancy shmancy dinner at this amazing restaurant called Alma Cocina in Atlanta (and we got a free dessert of fancy gourmet style churros when they found out why we were in town.) Andddd we stayed at a super nice hotel (thanks Mom and Dad!) and it was just so relaxing.

Keeping up with Ellie

If you're visiting this site because you've heard about Ellie or heard that we need prayer, you can track what's going on with her by visiting the following post links (from oldest to newest..mostly.) Ellie is our first child who we are currently pregnant with. She is having some major complications and we have been told that she likely will not survive. We decided to keep people updated using our blog as we know and believe in the power of prayer and intercession. God is good. He is carrying us through this.

We absolutely are so grateful for all of the support and we DO desperately need your prayers.

A brief introduction and why we are posting about Ellie

Medical update from 4/7

Adventures in praying for Ellie

Medical update from 4/30

On endurance (in relation to Ellie)

Medical update from 5/21 *Latest update!


Next appointment: Tuesday, June 4th (36 weeks)
My official due date is on 7/1

If you don't have time to read all of the posts above, here is how you can be praying:
-That Ellie lives.
-That her health is restored and that she is healed
-That she will grow substantially in order to have a chance at survival outside the womb
-Peace over our family
-That God would be glorified.

“Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Happy Anniversary! We're getting away!

(for the night.)

We're headed to ATL like the true gangstas we are to celebrate 2 years of marriage. Goodness. It feels like we've been married forever, and also that it was just yesterday that we had our marriage ceremony. And even though we're celebrating a week-ish early, I wanted to go ahead and post about my sweet husband so we can kick off our celebrating the right way. :)

Yep, this is going to be a sappy post and I'm okay with it.
So, my husband, here's a very very brief list of wonderful things about yourself that you would rarely admit to being true because you are too kind to acknowledge your awesomeness (15 specifically in honor of our anniversary date.)

1. It is absolutely fantastic how even though a lot of people know that you're silly--nobody REALLY knows this side of you like I do. I spend so much time laughing at with you that it often leads to intense ab soreness, which I totally appreciate. You are literally the silliest.
2. You are so kind and gentle, but you don't even know it. You are able to comfort me effortlessly, even without words.
3. You know me so well that you don't allow me to keep things inside that I should be expressing--often times you know these things even before I do, and you persist in coaching me through it because you know that it ALWAYS makes me feel better (even if I don't admit it right away.)
4. You care deeply about my family.
5. You're really really attractive. (I put this at number five as opposed to earlier so people wouldn't think I married you for your good looks. Kidding kidding kidding. But seriously.)
6. You are the BEST chef and you never get tired of cooking for me. What!? Seriously...I love that I have a husband who wants to cook for and with me every single day. Also, it's ridiculous that you make me breakfast every single morning. I'm sorry for being such a morning zombie.
7. When I'm sick, you literally turn into super-nurse-husband-man and make me all those amazing natural concoctions of juices and remedies just because you want to. I don't ever remember being sick and physically asking for anything at all because you serve me so well that I don't even have time to think of something I may need. You're literally going to be the best nurse.
8. You spend so much time praying for me and over me, especially during the times that I don't verbalize that I need prayer. You speak scripture over me and lead our family so well. And along the same lines, you correct me in the most gentle way when you notice something about the state of my heart that is dark and sinful.
9. You give the GREATEST HUGS OF ALL TIMES. Oh goodness, yes. (And you are so intentional about remembering frequently that my love language is touch and not making me feel crazy for wanting so many hugs and kisses.)
10. You are so good at dancing and if people really knew how much you danced they would beg me to set up video cameras everywhere so they could witness the greatness of it. (And I would say no because I selfishly would like to keep all of your dancing skills to myself.)
11. You are talented at too many things to list. It's like everything you try you succeed at.
12. You firmly believe in taking care of the orphans and the widows and you want a big family--perfect.
13. You value quality time with me and you ALWAYS want me to come with you to do regular old errands like grocery shopping or putting oil in your car or something. "But Jordan! It's so much fun if we do it togetherrrr!" The amount of times I've heard that....brilliant.
14. You always always always put my needs above yours (something I could take a lesson in.) Literally, no matter what you're in the middle of--you always drop it completely to help me out without ever asking me to wait. Gosh--one day I'll be better about that one.
15. You constantly amaze me with your compassion for others. All of the things I listed above are things you would do for ANYBODY--welllllll, maybe with the exception of the huggin' and kissin part ;)
and I just love that. You are truly a servant and you inspire me to be the same.


I could literally go on forever.
But it's time to celebrate! :)
Every day of marriage with you is better than the last--just imagine where we'll be years from now.
God has blessed me immensely by placing you in my life.