Our story starts long
before River came along, but I feel like to understand better where we are you
also have to know where we've been. :) Matt and I were married in August 2006.
I was in school at The University of Alabama so we bought a house in Tuscaloosa
and Matt commuted to his job in downtown Birmingham.
Honeymoon- 2006 in St. Thomas
We were married about 14
months when I became pregnant with our daughter, Briley. I was due in June 2006
and in April we found out Matt (25 years old) needed open heart surgery. A week
later I was diagnosed with chronic low platelets further complicating my current
pregnancy. Both events took us by complete surprise, but we had the sweet,
sweet peace that only comes from the Father. We had decided early in my
pregnancy to move home and had put our house on the market. We knew we did not
want to move with a newborn and M recovering from surgery so we moved into
Matt’s parent’s river house and left our home vacant and for sale. Matt had
open heart surgery when I was 31 weeks pregnant and did great. Recovery,
however, was long and hard and it was a close to a year before he was himself
again. Briley and I came through delivery just fine and we praised God for his
mercies.
Welcome to the world, Briley!
We always wanted our children to be close in age and planned to try
for a baby after Briley’s 1st birthday. One month before that Matt lost his
job. Again we were in shock, but we trusted God. We put our plans for a baby on
hold. Matt worked odd jobs and did everything he could to provide for our
family while looking for a full time (with benefits) job. The Lord definitely
provided as we never had to take government assistance during this time period
and were able to continue to make house payments on the house we still had on
the market in Tuscaloosa. We were able to keep our health insurance for 18
months from termination and wouldn’t you know that at almost exactly 18 months
Matt received an offer for a full time job with benefits. God’s timing.
I
don’t think there was a day that passed that my heart didn’t ache for another
child while we waited for Matt to find another job. We had always wanted a big
family and our children close together in age. It was hard knowing that God was
calling us to more children, but also knowing He was calling us to wait on His
timing. I wasn’t on birth control because it really seems to aggravate my blood
sugar so we relied on natural family planning. We never had a single pregnancy
“scare” in the year of using NFP. Finally, Matt was hired on full time with
benefits in November 2010 with a company he’d been working PRN for. We prayed
and immediately began to try for our next child. In the year of NFP I had
noticed my cycle was a bit messed up, but nothing too concerning. We tried for
one month and then I decided to call my OB and run everything by her. I felt
like we’d waited so long just waiting that I wanted to jump on top of any
potential problems that would make it difficult to get pregnant. They did some
testing which revealed I had low progesterone levels (one of the most common
causes of infertility in women.) I knew this could be remedied with a certain
prescription from my OB so I didn’t worry too much and we entered month 2 of
trying. I remember precisely Matt, Briley, and I were on the way to a Christmas
parade a few weeks later when I got a call from my OB’s main nurse. She said
they wanted to check my levels one more time with this cycle and then they
would refer me to infertility. WAIT A SECOND. I was under the impression low
progesterone could be easily fixed with a simple prescription. “Well, it can,”
the nurse said, “but she doesn’t deal with that a lot so she’s just going to
send you to infertility.” In shock, I got off the phone and I can remember
being SO MAD. Being referred to infertility meant waiting at minimum a month
for an appointment then going through a full work up before anything would be
done. I’ll admit to a break down in the shower the next day with a conversation
that went A LOT like this: “Are you
kidding me, Lord? We’ve waited 18 stinking months to start trying to have
another baby and now THIS? Now I have to WAIT EVEN LONGER.” My attitude wasn’t
the greatest and I forgot whose timeline I was on, but He gently spoke to me. I
very clearly felt in my spirit he reminded me He was still in control and I
chose at that moment to let it go. I even thought to myself that perhaps I was
overreacting a little, but I was due to start my period the next day so I
chalked it all up to PMS. Have you figured out how this story ends yet? Two
days later with two pink lines.
I want to remember this,
to hold it close because I need to remember how God ordained my son’s life
before it began. It was not a mistake, it was by His perfect timing, and it was
against the odds.
Pregnant here and keeping it a secret from everyone, except Matt and B :)
Big Sister announcement
I had a fairly easy
pregnancy my first and second trimester. We started high risk testing in the 3rd
trimester and it all went downhill from there. I was having twice weekly BPP’s
and River was not passing them. This typically led to my OB sending me for
evaluation and then I would either be sent home in a couple of hours or
admitted for a couple of hours and then sent home. This cycle went on for about
2 weeks. (Oh, and remember that house on the market in Tuscaloosa? It finally sold during all this. 3 years and 10 months on the market.) On July 14th I went in for a BPP and appointment. At the
appointment I expressed my concerns that River was less active and that this
cycle of being admitted and sent home constantly was exhausting and worrisome.
I asked how much longer they were going to continue this “plan”. The doctor
stated she was waiting for River to declare whether he was safer out of the
womb than in and I respectfully told her I felt like he had already made that
declaration. We were basically waiting on an emergency. I was sent for my BPP
and River failed. Again. This time with the lowest score thus far. The tech
went to consult with the OB while we waited. She sent her head nurse back who
told me I was being admitted. “To have a baby…?” I asked. She said the plan was
to watch me for the day and possibly induce later that evening. When I arrived
on the L&D floor the attending on the floor took one look at our chart and
his BPP and called for an immediate emergency c-section. She likely saved River’s
life and I will be eternally grateful.
Mommy's First Look and In Love
Hours after birth
Loved him from day 1
We celebrated our 5th anniversary in the NICU
He was born with an
apgar of 3. I have no memories of his birth as I was completely under and no
one was allowed in the delivery room with me. He was immediately taken to NICU
and intubated shortly after. Two days later, by way of routine head ultrasound
and then a MRI to follow, we found out he’d had bilateral grade 4 brain bleeds.
The next few weeks were a blur as he worsened in the NICU and had to fight for
his life. He stabilized and we were sent to the local Children’s Hospital for a
possible shunt due to hydrocephalus from the damage of the bleed. We spent
weeks being followed and evaluated by the neurosurgeon. “Wait and see” became our motto. We are incredibly
blessed in that River never needed the shunt and after 8 long weeks (and
surgery for g tube and fundoplication) we discharged home. We are still “waiting”
to see how the rest of his story plays out; but know this- God is good and He is able. Every good thing we have in this life is from the Father and we praise him for his mercy and grace over our lives.
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