18 Miracles

A couple months ago we watched the movie "17 Miracles".   It inspired me with the idea to count the miracles in Kate's journey once she came home.


 I believe miracles happen daily.  They don't have to be huge, most are small.  I know if we are looking, we will find them.  I don't believe in coincidence or irony.  I tend to believe in and look for signs. I think our Heavenly Father is always trying to show us he is near!  I believe that even though things don't always happen the way we want them to, the good, the bad, the ugly- there are always valuable lessons to be learned. Some trials happen due to the choices we make, and other trials happen just because- with no understandable reason behind them. I believe the Lord's hand is in every trial to help, heal, and provide miracles!

These are just very short descriptions- most of the details are in past posts. 

WARNING: The first part of this might be one of those posts that is "too much information"....

18 Miracles

1. Making the Call- My very minimal pre-labor symptoms gave me a strong enough feeling that I needed to call and get an appointment with my doctor rather than ignoring or watching them for a couple days.
2. Scheduling-I saw Dr. Young on Monday and he was headed out of town on Wednesday. Although my pre-labor symptoms were very minimal and I wasn't dilated, he felt like I needed a Cerclage.  He had a full schedule on Tuesday, but felt he should still try to fit my Cerclage surgery in.  He was able to arrange the schedule so I could have it done.
3. The Cerclage itself was a miracle.  I was already dilated to a 4 by Tuesday morning and Kate's head was right there- she was ready to come.  It was almost impossible to put the Cerclage in.
4. Prolonged Labor- It was a miracle that the Cerclage prolonged my labor for another 10 days.  Emergency Cerclages like that usually don't hold for more than just a few days. 
5. The Picture- After I had only been in the hospital for a short time, I was taken down to ultrasound to see how things looked with my labor and Cerclage.  The ultrasound tech and Dr. Granier, a neonatal specialist, were in the room.  They took pictures of the ultrasound and showed me what was going on.  The baby's head was right at the opening, the Cerclage was nowhere to be seen, and the amniotic sac was bulging.  They basically told me I had better not do anything except get up to use the bathroom.  I most likely wouldn't make it much longer before I had the baby.  I went back to my room and called Josh.  I then called extended family to tell them what was going on.  I was pretty scared at this point and asked them all to pray for Kate and I.  They all immediately gathered together with their kids and had family prayers for us.  My dad came up that evening and we talked and cried for awhile.  He asked if he could give me a blessing.  It was a very touching and reassuring blessing that all was in the Lord's hands.  Shortly after my dad left, my doctor came in to see what was going on.  He looked at the picture and decided he needed to check what was going on for himself.  His findings were nothing close to being in the same ball park as what the picture showed.  He said the Cerclage was completely in tact and closed, and he couldn't feel the amniotic sac or the babies head.  He said the picture had to be wrong.  He even had a nurse come check also to get a second opinion.  She confirmed what he had said.  I was in awe and knew I had just witnessed a miracle due to a priesthood blessing and many very sincere prayers!  I stayed pregnant for almost a week longer- and every day made a tremendous difference in Kate's development.   
6. "The Angel's Veil"-Kate's birth story
7. Timing-The timing of the delivery- Dr. Young had the intuition of what needed to happen and when.  Had I not been in the OR ready to deliver at that time- both Kate and I could've died from the placenta abruption.  It was a miracle that it didn't abrupt any sooner. 
8. Ecoli- When Kate was born she tested positive for Ecoli.  Babies get super sick when they have this.  Kate was immediately treated for it, but the doctors were baffled that she had it because she showed no signs of it by the way she behaved. 
9. PDA- One of the first things we worried about with Kate was that her PDA valve in her heart wasn't closing on it's own.  This is actually a very typical thing.  The first treatment for this is through medicine and that will usually close it.  A second round of medicine is given, if not.  The third step is surgery.  The surgery was explained to me as somewhat simple in comparison to other heart surgeries, but I couldn't stand the thought of Kate undergoing that. We had a family fast as Kate received her second round of medicine.  I later found out that many people in the community also joined in with us.  Just before we headed to church on fast Sunday, I received a phone call from the doctor confirming that her PDA had closed. 
10. Small Triumphs- Kate had many small triumphs in the NICU: only two blood transfusions, and she was the NICU's best 25 weeker binky sucker (which played a role in how quickly she learned how to eat).
11. No Complications- The fact that Kate had no complications during her NICU stay was a huge miracle!
12. Reconnect with Kristi-One of those tender mercies, in which I consider a miracle, happened on a random day that I visited the NICU at a time when I usually didn't go in. I showed up to the NICU and Kristi was Kate's nurse.  I didn't recognize her at first, but after a few minutes of talking to her, it hit me that she was one of Kam's primary nurses 8 yrs. ago.  She now worked mostly as a charge nurse, but today she was taking a small part of a shift for someone.  I was so excited to reconnect with her.  We were able to visit for quite sometime.  She shared some very sad, hard, personal stories with me about her experiences with two of her own babies- one of them being a preemie.  I learned a lot from her- and truly admire her strength with what she has been through.  I saw the Lord's hand that day. I know he cares about our relationships and the things we can learn from eachother- that's why the world- truly is "a small world after all".
13. Modern medicine and technology- all that tangible "stuff" that saved Kate's life. 
14. The staff at the NICU are all miracle workers- I believe most are guided by spiritual promptings to do what's best for all those babies. 
15. Eating- Kate learned to eat so quickly - within one week.  
16. Discharge date- The fact that Kate was discharged one day before Kam was released (Nov. 9th) from the NICU is kind of a really weird- mind blowing- miracle.  She was supposed to come home close to Christmas and she came home Nov. 8th. 
17. Kate's friends- Other miracles I met along the way- Baby: Kash, Rosie, Boston, Jack-Jack, and Lucy.  These babies filled the nursery with their sweet, strong spirits.   I will forever cherish the friendships I made with their parents. 
18. Tithing- Josh and I don't live "High on the Hog."  Usually, we are living pretty tight, and pay check to pay check.  I take care of the finances and keep it on a frugal budget plan.  I choose to work as little as possible so that I am able to spend most of my time as a Mother.   When Kate was born our finances flew out the window.  We had medical bills coming at us every which way on top of the additional $300-$400/month we spent in gas to commute to the hospital.  I simply didn't have the time or the mindset to deal with it all.  For the 11 weeks that she was in the hospital, we somehow were so blessed not to have any financial complications.  I wasn't able to keep track of where the money was going or how much we had left, but by some miracle we managed.   We received blessings that came through paying our tithing.  I know our Father in Heaven helped us to manage and survive.  He also blessed us through the service of others.  We were blessed by so many people who sacrificed and gave of their own income to help us out.  We saw it in the form of money, gift cards, and the many meals that were brought into us.