God can bring blessing and growth into our lives through seemingly impossible and heartbreaking circumstances. Today's testimony is from Aurie who blogs at Welcome to our Good Life! . I know that some of you will be able to identify with Aurie and her difficult pregnancies. My prayer is that you will be encouraged by the blessings she received through these valleys.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
During my errands today I drove past the hospital where I gave birth to Bella. I couldn't help wondering how many babies were in the nursery, how many women were in labor, and how many parents were marveling over their tiny miracle.
You see, I will never again be a patient in the maternity ward. I'll never take another pregnancy test. There won't be the agony of are we/aren't we?! again. I'll never lie on the exam table, waiting to hear a tiny heartbeat, or feel the cold ultrasound jelly on my stomach. No more morning sickness, no stretch marks, no worries about weight and water intake.
I did not have easy pregnancies. We needed some help to conceive, and I miscarried twice during those long months. When we found out we were pregnant with twins we were thrilled! I miscarried 1 twin at 13 weeks - but successfully carried Sophie to full term. A few months after Sophie turned 1 we started thinking about adding to our family and amazingly I was already pregnant!
This second pregnancy was even more difficult than the first. I was diagnosed with placenta previa in my 3rd month and was on bed rest for 3 weeks. Believe me, there is no way to explain bed rest to an 18 month old! My blood sugars were all over the place. I had horrific back pain that did not stop - no matter what I did. In my 5th and 7th month I was put on bed rest again. In my 8th and 9th month I was in and out of the doctor's office and hospital.
At my 30 week check up my OB gently suggested that we discuss having a tubal ligation, since my body was struggling so much with this pregnancy. We talked about it over and over and over. At each visit I asked more questions, and my doctor patiently answered each one. When I walked into the operation room I still wasn't 100% sure. I mean, there is NO going back - this really was a final decision. We prayed about it, and I remember asking God for direction - was this really what I was supposed to do?
As it turned out, yes. God blessed us with a full term healthy baby girl. He blessed me with the strength to carry her to full term and defy the medical odds. You see, when the doctor made the incision to start what was supposed to be a routine c-section, she found that the wall of my uterus was tissue paper thin. She pricked it with her glove-covered fingernail and the wall opened up. Amazingly there was no infection, no tearing, no scarring. The placenta was right where it should be.
The miracle in all of this? Isabelle had been in the transverse position for most of the pregnancy. This position allowed her to be safely born at full term. If she had moved an 1/8 of an inch up, down, front, or back my uterine wall would not have been able to handle the pressure and most likely would have burst, putting my life and Isabelle's at risk.
So, while at times I'm sad to think of all the things I won't experience again, I'm so thankful for the blessings that I have - and the doors that have opened for us to expand our little family! But that, dear friends, is another post!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's amazing to see the hand of our Creator in protecting Aurie's sweet unborn daughter, and the blessings they have received after some very difficult days. Please head over to Aurie's blog, Welcome to our Good Life, to get to learn more about her story.