Healthy and Strong

Wow, 6 days!  It's almost hard for me to believe that it's been quite that long.  But in case some of you were wondering if we just have had our hands full with the busy-ness of a newborn, the answer would be "not yet".  We're still in a holding pattern as someone said tonight at church.  So I think this should be a lesson to all us ladies out there.  Don't let your doctor convince you to move your due date up by 8 days when you are 99% positive of your calendar dates!  All the emotions of being "over due" could have been avoided if I had just stuck to my guns a bit more.  But in reality, I didn't have a choice in what my doctor called my due date.  But what I could have done differently was to just tell everyone July 30th rather than July 22nd.  When I use that date it makes me just a day a few hours away from my due date.  Now doesn't that sound better?  I think so.

So since I'm waiting--well we're all waiting--I figured I'd share a few thoughts I've had about this bun while it's been in the oven.

The phrase "healthy and strong" has been said a lot in our house over the past few months.  It's a blessing that we easily took for granted with our two older children.  But ever since about half way through this pregnancy, it's something we've daily thanked God for.  The main reason being that we got a bold reminder of how fragile our human bodies can be.  

A few days after our routine 20 week ultrasound, my doctor called to let me know there was a possible problem with the baby.  She went on to explain that in the ultrasound, they found "something" in the baby's stomach.  They weren't sure what it was, but there were a few options.  And the reasons that there would be anything in there at all were even more numerous.  They ranged in severity from a random piece of meconium (first baby poop) or skin tissue that the baby swallowed and would normally pass, to a piece of mucus that could be a sign of cystic fibrosis.  There was also the possibility that it was a structural deformity which would require us to deliver in Portland and for the baby to have immediate corrective surgery.  Plus there were about 10 other options that were mild to moderate in severity. 

It was a rough couple of weeks waiting for blood test results to come back.  But one right after another, each one came back negative.  Praise God!  I still remember where I was when I got the call on my cell phone that the cystic fibrosis test had come back negative.  That was the last blood test we waited on and what a relief that was.  Then there was the follow up ultrasound to see if the mystery item was still there or not.  And praise the Lord, it was gone!  No where to be found!  It seemed that the best case scenario--some accidentally swallowed poop--had likely been the issue all along.

But during those weeks of waiting, we grew.  I shed many tears for our child during that time, unsure of what the future would hold. I found myself clinging even more to our two older children, not wanting to leave them, realizing again how unbelievably blessed I am to be their mother, and how blessed we were to have two children who were healthy and strong.  After a few days sorting through my emotions, a peace began to come over me--a peace from God--as I realized that God wouldn't give me anything that I couldn't handle.  And of course, He had chosen Shawn and I to raise this child so no matter what the health issue might be, it wouldn't be more than we could handle.  It might not be easy, but if we relied on God, He would see us through.

Of course, we didn't know at first that everything would turn out so well.  We didn't know then, that the rest of this pregnancy would be practically worry free.  As it is now the biggest thing I have to worry about is whether or not this baby is going to be over 10 lbs.  And I suppose we don't know with full certainty that this baby will be completely healthy and strong when it is born.  But I do know that no matter what may come with this child or with our older two, God will see us through.