Counting our Blessings

Friends and Family,

It's great to be writing to you all from HOME! Many of you know what kind of week we've had, but in case you don't- here's a quick recap: Last weekend, after spending an amazing 3 days with our dear friends Sara and Adam Jonas at our house, Ben and I decided to get some exercise and go for our normal walk with the dogs around flag pole hill and back. Sounds pretty innocent, right? Well, we are 3/4s the way home on Lanshire when I feel myself miss my step and promptly trip on the sidewalk- allowing no time to even think about catching myself. I land flat on my stomach, and experience the most sickening, deep pain I've ever felt. We were terrified for our baby. Praise God and His incredible timing, a sweet young couple happened to be driving right by us and witnessed the fall; they stopped and loaded all of us in their car and drove us back to our house. We immediately left for the hospital (Baylor Labor and Delivery) where they proceeded to give me a sonogram, listen to the baby's heartbeat and take a few blood tests for precaution. I cannot describe the joy we felt when we first saw our baby's heart pumping speedily and legs kicking away on the sonogram machine. Praise God! The doctors seemed to be relieved as well, and told us we could probably go home as soon as they got the blood tests back. That was when they discovered the abruption- the blood tests revealed that there was, in fact, a small amount of fetal cells mixed in with my blood, which can only be explained by an abruption of the uterine wall. This can be dangerous because whatever blood the baby is missing could cause him to become anemic and therefore demand an emergency delivery. In addition, the doctors had to tell me that I was having contractions (I didn't even feel them at first!) which was also a sign of an aggravated uterus. To make a LONG story shorter, we resided at Baylor hospital for the next 3 days, taking numerous blood tests, hoping to show signs of healing and recovery. But the Lord is faithful, and He is healing me everyday so that I can soon again have a safe haven for our baby. We've been home (on bed rest) since Wednesday, and BOY does it feel good to be out of that darn hospital gown! What a humbling experience child birth will be .... I can already tell from that little sneak preview. :) I am so very grateful to have such supportive family and friends who are willing to drop everything and surround me during this tough time. Sweet Ben barely left my side the entire time, and also took it upon himself to be my personal "secretary", contacting friends to keep them informed of our situation. My parents and Ben's parents also certainly learned the in's and out's of Baylor Labor and Delivery- great practice for when our little baby is actually born! Thank you to everyone for your prayers and words of encouragement, it truly did give me peace to hear again and again "God is in control".  Please continue to pray for our baby- that he will make himself comfortable and continue to develop in there for a few more weeks. But most of all, give PRAISES to Him for protecting us this week from a potential early delivery! His timing is so perfect, and we are trusting in Him one day at a time. The pictures are a few "highlights" from the hospital. (Hey- you have to be pretty creative to entertain yourself on bed rest!) My two favorite things about Baylor: their compassionate and attentive doctors and nurses, and... their bottomless CRUSHED ICE. That's right- they bring you Sonic-type ice all day long, all you can eat. It's glorious. 

One more exciting piece of news... the nursery is well on it's way to being complete! Our crib and changing table arrived yesterday, so Grandma Kathi came to the rescue and set all the bedding up and got things ready to go. Stay tuned- pictures will be posted soon! 

Love to you all.