Okay, yes, I'm a little strange....I was looking forward to this week. It's the one year anniversary of when the Big Adventure began, and I actually looked forward to rehashing "this time last year, we were...." Well, that lasted about two days. Valentine's Day last year I was in the hospital, so Valentine's Day this year, we made a lot of jokes along the lines of, "It doesn't matter how little we do to celebrate, at least we're not in the hospital this year," etc.
The ladies in our church have an e-mail group, and yesterday I decided to read through their daily posts of the time when they found out I was sick, when I was admitted, the two-week ordeal, and the birth of our precious Smiley Boy. I cried through all of them. Totally NOT what I was expecting. Then, today, I had reason to be at the Women's Pavilion (taking SB to a music play group offered by the university). When I went into the bathroom there, just a short walk from where I spent three weeks last year, all of the fixtures, the cleaning agents, the tile floor, the general feel of the room almost overcame me, and I was nauseated for several minutes.
So, I guess God wants me to see something in this that I don't see yet, but I'm not just glibly rehashing the events of last year now. We'll see what He has in mind....
Friday, February 16, 2007
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Memories
Well, it's been one year since my ankles began to balloon as I was teaching. I spent most of that day and the next sitting down while reading The Watsons Go to Birmingham with my eighth grade language arts students. I felt like some swelling was normal at 24 weeks pregnant, and I wasn't concerned, but when the swelling didn't go down overnight I decided I'd better call the doctor. When I did that on Friday morning, she asked about my blood pressure--which I had already checked--it was fine. She told me to keep a watch on it over the weekend and come in for my scheduled appointment on Monday. I did a scrapbook workshop Friday night and got on the scales at the church while I was there. Boy! I had gained about 18 pounds since my last weigh-in at the doctor (I don't keep scales at my house).
On Saturday I began to notice some swelling in my face, so I e-mailed my dear friends who were travel-nursing, in ALASKA, at the time. They had given me advice on other occasions and were following my progress. Nurse R. e-mailed me back on Sunday morning and told me to call my doctor immediately. I decided to check my blood pressure again first, and when it was normal, I went on to church. I got prayed for there, and had a long talk with Pastor J about how to handle the situation if indeed it turned out to be a problem.
I can't remember exactly how this story goes, but Pastor J told me about a pregnant woman he and his wife knew who discovered that she had a life-threatening heart condition after she became pregnant. As a result of it, she had to stay flat on her back the whole pregnancy--otherwise she would risk her life and the life of her baby. She came to a place of not questioning God about it but accepted it and kept a beautiful attitude throughout. Once the baby was delivered, the heart condition disappeared, but there was something (this is the part I can't remember) about the pregnancy that if she had not been on her back the whole time, the baby would have died. The lesson was that God is BIGGER than I am, and to have faith for healing but to accept His ultimate decision. I didn't get it completely at the time, but the lesson came clear to me later.
We went to Wal-Mart Sunday afternoon and I checked my BP again--still normal. Sunday night, however, was miserable. I felt like I couldn't breathe lying down and spent much of the night sitting up, dozing, on the sofa. I thought I would get one of those wedge pillows to sleep on before bedtime Monday. Little did I know that this was to be my last night in my own bed for three weeks.
On Saturday I began to notice some swelling in my face, so I e-mailed my dear friends who were travel-nursing, in ALASKA, at the time. They had given me advice on other occasions and were following my progress. Nurse R. e-mailed me back on Sunday morning and told me to call my doctor immediately. I decided to check my blood pressure again first, and when it was normal, I went on to church. I got prayed for there, and had a long talk with Pastor J about how to handle the situation if indeed it turned out to be a problem.
I can't remember exactly how this story goes, but Pastor J told me about a pregnant woman he and his wife knew who discovered that she had a life-threatening heart condition after she became pregnant. As a result of it, she had to stay flat on her back the whole pregnancy--otherwise she would risk her life and the life of her baby. She came to a place of not questioning God about it but accepted it and kept a beautiful attitude throughout. Once the baby was delivered, the heart condition disappeared, but there was something (this is the part I can't remember) about the pregnancy that if she had not been on her back the whole time, the baby would have died. The lesson was that God is BIGGER than I am, and to have faith for healing but to accept His ultimate decision. I didn't get it completely at the time, but the lesson came clear to me later.
We went to Wal-Mart Sunday afternoon and I checked my BP again--still normal. Sunday night, however, was miserable. I felt like I couldn't breathe lying down and spent much of the night sitting up, dozing, on the sofa. I thought I would get one of those wedge pillows to sleep on before bedtime Monday. Little did I know that this was to be my last night in my own bed for three weeks.
Monday, February 5, 2007
NICU
We went to visit the wonderful ladies at the NICU on Friday. They had not seen Smiley Boy since he came home in June, and they were so excited. We saw our dear friends, Nurses P and D, and so many others. Some who didn't even know us came over and thanked us for visiting. One nurse said that it really encourages them in the job they do to see a healthy little guy like ours. God bless those women. They were so professional and caring during the 14 weeks we were there. We saw Dr. P too. He was his usual reserved self, but he played with Smiley Boy a little and seemed genuinely glad to see him.
Still trying to figure out how to celebrate Smiley Boy's birthday. If he had arrived in the usual way, I would not even worry about a party, but so many people who prayed for him and feel a part of his success have said that they want to come that I need to do it for them. Hmmmm. I just don't know. I have three weeks to figure it out.
Still trying to figure out how to celebrate Smiley Boy's birthday. If he had arrived in the usual way, I would not even worry about a party, but so many people who prayed for him and feel a part of his success have said that they want to come that I need to do it for them. Hmmmm. I just don't know. I have three weeks to figure it out.
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