March 21, 2014

Today is one of those days I will remember for the rest of my life! On 3/20/14 Jeff took me to the hospital because I thought I might have been having contractions. After a few hours they sent us home and told me I would be on bed rest until I could see the OB on Monday. If you know me you know I HATE being still. I would rather scrub toilets than be forced to stay in one spot, so I told Jeff on the way home that day I hoped it would not be permanent (little did I know what was ahead!) On 3/21 Jeff left for work with strict orders not to get out of the bed until we got ready to go see my mom for her birthday. At about 12:00 I started feeling this really strong pressure. So, I called the doctor who said to be in her office at 2:00. I thought at first I was maybe being over sensitive but as I started getting ready I knew something was wrong. It is so neat to me how God gives you intuition.  When the OB checked me my worse fear came true.... I was in pre-term labor. We were sent over to the hospital until her night rounds and by the time she had gotten there my cervix had thinned 40% more than in her office. She bluntly told us she was not certain she could stop it and until our son was 24 weeks (which was 1 week and 2 days away) they did not consider him viable to live. Jeff and I had a few tears and then we began to pray that we would remember that in ALL things Father is good and that he gives and he takes away. We prayed we would have faith to endure everything that was ahead. Jeff stepped out to get my mom and go talk to his family and the nurse (who was crying) just held my hand while she finished paperwork. When my mom came in she shared a piece of information that my mamaw had given her at lunch that day. My cousin had been doing research on numbers in the Bible. The number she had researched was the number 333. I cannot remember most of the things my mom had read but I will not forget the verse Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known." My mom and I just smiled and thanked God for the verse to remind us that as children of God he hears our cries. The nurse came back in and my mom asked what room I would be headed to....She said room 333 again we laughed and thanked God. My mom shared the information with our nurse, who is a prayer warrior and she began to cry again. God knew I needed medical staff around me at that moment who had faith. As she was rolling me to my room she explained there would be a lot of people doing a lot of different things when we got there. One of the staff was a doctor for the baby. He measured my cervical length and determined is was at a 2.5cm on a 4.0 cm scale. The smaller it was the worse it was. We were told they could try to stop that from getting thinner but there was no way to make it thicker once it had started. One positive was when they measured Tripp the doctor was floored that even though he is only 22 weeks he is measuring 1 week and 2 days bigger (that's how long we need to get him to "viability".... God is good!) I was started on several different medicines through my IV, one is called Magnesium.... they told me it would make me feel like I had the flu. I have only had the flu once in my life and I do not remember feeling this bad. The medicine works to relax all the muscles in your body..... it strange to see your legs but have no feeling in them at all! As is stands at this point we are just holding on to the faith and hope that God is sovereign and that not a single one of today's events took him by surprise! He is still good and we will praise him no matter what he decides to do!