God's Mercy towards our Birthday Boy

I'm 3!

 















       It's hard to believe 3 years ago I suddenly went into labor and Josiah was born...we had no idea if he would live or die. He wasn't breathing, but praise be to God, he finally started breathing and they rushed him to the NICU. God has saw fit to allow us to raise this precious little boy for 3 years now!! I'm still in awe.

As the 3 years have gone by I am more and more in awe of God's mercy towards us with Josiah!

The  First thing I learned was h0w merciful God has been in regards to Josiah's health.
     We were told due to his premature lungs he would have all kinds of breathing issues, including severe asthma. As of this day there is NO SIGN of asthma!! Thank you Jesus! Thank the Lord I found out after the matter, but was later told they had prepped the ICU for after his all day surgery. They did not expect him to handle it well particularly his lungs... to everyone's surprise he was able to go to a typical room/floor. Even when he had the flu he did not need to be hospitalized.


The second thing I have learned is how merciful God has been in regards to his cleft lip/palate.
     Josiah had his big clinic last Friday at Children's Hospital and at one point I was so humbled I wanted to weep. Most of the kids there were there for cleft lip/palate follow ups. You could TELL they had surgery for cleft lips...Josiah on the other hand...not so much!! Sure if you look you can see it's different looking, his nose is some what crooked, etc. I can't tell you enough how humbled I was to see such a HUGE difference!! No it doesn't matter if you can tell or not...but the fact that God allowed Josiah to be barely noticeable...I was speechless...I just assumed the other kids looked like him. Also his tooth that is behind the front row, to everyone's surprise is an extra! That's a good thing! :) Better to have extra , then less I was told. Thank you Jesus!

Rocking Dakota's sunglasses. :)

Last but not least, I learned how merciful God has been with Josiah's therapy.
      While in NH we had Early Intervention for him. They started with O.T. then we had a long struggle with literally teaching him to eat (so many factors I never thought about), swallow tests and more feeding therapy, then finally some physical therapy to try and get him to walk. Praise the Lord, he was walking by about 2 and learned how to walk on the uneven ground outside this past spring. :) But then there was a gap after we moved . After Savannah was born with Down Syndrome we finally got on Early Intervention in this area...Praise God! After evaluations we finally started working on speech therapy, but still have a long way to go, though he is saying a few words! With turning 3 means big changes, he "ages out of E.I." So we started the process of seeing about possibly getting him therapy through the school system and after talking to Savannah's therapist, we decided to try and get an evaluation at a private place and started with North East Rehab.
   
      Since we still hadn't heard from the school system for further evaluations, where we go for E.I. agreed to allow him to stay in his little 2X2 group through the fall, so he could continue to work on sign language and communicating with kids his age. He LOVES it! We have to pay out of pocket, but I am still thankful there won't be another gap and delay for him! Then Thursday when I took him to his evaluation at North East, to my (and his E.I. therapists) surprise (and delight) was told he qualified and would start right away on therapy. We expected months of waiting and go from place to place for evaluations. God took it one step further and they are also approving him for some much needed O.T and Physical Therapy! Praise God!! I FINALLY feel like we are getting help for Josiah and Lord willing, can get him caught up and strengthened physically.

 Some helpful things I learned (which I'm so excited to have answers):
     The specialist in Boston pointed out he makes A LOT of sounds in the back of his throat. This is bad and will eventually damage his vocal chords, which is a big concern. We don't want to discourage ANY sounds he makes, but instead get really excited and encourage sounds in the front of the mouth. She doesn't think his palate or extra tooth are causing the issues in speech, yet if he hasn't made huge improvements within 6 months she wants to reexamine that sooner then a year.

showing you what the dental team did. :)

     During his evaluation at North East ( I can't tell you how excited I was after meeting his new therapist) she was talking about kids the have weak muscles (make an o face...those muscles) when drinking from a straw stick it far back in their mouths and bite down. Josiah does this!! We had no clue it was due to his weak muscles! Because of that his swallowing becomes uncoordinated and it again comes out his nose. She has a device to work on that. His soft palate needs to be strengthened and he is very nasally. I found out when he is blowing on his food, he's actually blowing out his nose, not his mouth (it's hard to tell his face is all scrunched up)...so she has a device that will gently pinch the nose closed so he can't use it and will learn to use his soft palate and be aware of sounds from his mouth. SOOO freaking excited about all of this!! :)

Whoops, missed his mouth. ;)

I just want to say that even if God saw fit to not show mercy in any or all of those areas, HE is still a merciful, loving, God. I am a sinful wretch and do not deserve any of it and am so thankful for His sweet blessings and mercy!

No, that is not lipstick! He got into the girls red paint, I guess the sponge brush felt cool on his lips. lol!!

I thought this song was perfect, though I couldn't find Aaron Keyes singing it.

For HIS Glory,

Lilla Rose Sale and GIVEAWAY

Lilla Rose is having an awesome sale going on.

1. There are several NEW designs and they are 10% off!!!

2. Soon to be retiring designs are 20% off!! Grab them while you can.

3. Every purchase you make you will be entered into a drawing for a design of your choice.







Any profits I make on sales will be used to provide Josiah with speech therapy, since he will no longer qualify for E.I. come next month. Thank you for helping us with this expense, we so appreciate it! :)


For His Glory,

A Different Kind of Flower

For my sweet Josiah...

A Different Kind Of Flower

She had been so depressed after the birth. Depressed and guilty and 

angry. She had been so good all through the pregnancy; it just wasn't 

fair. Her baby wasn't perfect. Her baby had a cleft. 

The front door closed in the other room. She knew her husband was home. 

He was later today than usual. Looking up, she saw him come into the room. 

He held out to her a gorgeous bouquet of roses. But wait, among the roses 

was one lone orchid. It was a beautiful orchid. With splendid color and 

plump. Lush petals, different from all the other flowers in the bouquet. 

She looked at her husband and stroked the errant bloom. 

"What's this?" she asked him. 

"Honey," he said as he sat beside her, "this flower is our son. Every

other baby in the nursery had rose-bud lips. But his lips were open, like

the petals of this orchid. Everybody else had a rosebud, but we had the only

orchid in the bunch. I just wanted you to see how beautiful an orchid is,

even among the rosebuds." 

She smiled. The orchid was beautiful after all. How could she ever had 

missed the beauty of the orchid among the rosebuds? 

- Joanne Green 

Josiah at this point. :)

For His Glory,

One Year Later Part 5

Whew! Sorry this is SO late!.

Today is day 5 and the final part in my week long story of my son's 1st year of life. You can read the first four parts by clicking here:

getting ready to come home.

     It's funny I thought bringing Josiah home wouldn't be that big of a deal. Ha! Was I wrong! *smile* I was planning on coming alone with the girls and packing him and his stuff up and leaving. Praise God. my mom offered to come with us!!! First off, once again they want to go over everything, finish getting him ready and fed for the trip. There is ALL kinds of paper work to go over and sign. Our car seat didn't pass the inspection and I kind of panicked because we couldn't afford to buy a new one on our way to the hospital. The hospital provided a free one.Thank you Lord! The problem...it's one for bigger babies and sat straight up. And I me STRAIGHT up. Even my girls car seats recline some what. It took me FOREVER to get it buckled in, because it had to face backward and the straps weren't long enough. Augh! Then it took several trips and finally my van was FULL of baby items, oxygen tanks, and medical equipment. A couple of hours later, we were ready to leave! I was so excited and nervous!!

Our very own oximeter

Our hospital grade suction machine.

Josiah's new feeding machine.

     With my mom and a nurses to help we got the kids down to the car. It was freezing out and Josiah couldn't breath in the cold hair. So I was trying to hurry and get everyone settled so we could be on our way. WELL....the straps were too tight and I couldn't get him in all the way. I was already worried because no one knew how he'd handle driving in the car.Would his oxygen drop? Would he scream? Would he go into distress and stop breathing? I started to get very upset at that point and was in tears. I couldn't figure out how to loosen the straps!! He looked so uncomfortable sitting straight up like that and I was worried he would have trouble breathing. I finally got him strapped in good enough to drive home. It was the LONGEST drive home of my life!!

Josiah at home. His special sling is above him.

     We finally got home and my dad was there to help me unload the car and get us settled in. I am so thankful to the Lord for his help! Josiah started screaming and I couldn't get him to stop. It took my dad many, many strips to unload the car (we live on the second floor). By the time he was done, there where boxes piled up every where! It finally found some items that I would need for the night. Such as, his feeding machine, oxygen, monitor, and his special formula and meds. I really wanted and needed a good cry! But, I didn't want to upset the girls. It was overwhelming to say the least and a long night!! But we survived! *smile*

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

     When Josiah came home he was still on oxygen and strapped to a monitor to check his heart rate and oxygen level. He was on a G-tube feeding machine and a STRICT eating and medicine schedule. He had to eat every 3 hours, 6am, 9am, 12pm, 3pm, 6pm, 9pm, 12am and repeat. *smile* It was exhausting and I started to sleep through my alarm at night and would miss feeds. Because, start the feed, say at 9pm. Then the machine goes off an hour later to say it's done and you have to get up and shut it off. Then two hours later at 12 you have to start it again.   There was a lot to do and a lot to learn. We didn't leave the house expect for doctor appointments (which there where MANY of those).It took a while to get use to traveling with Josiah and all his equipment when we would head into Boston. Sometime's it felt like we lived there! But it got easier as time went on.

Grammy and Naomi checking on Josiah.

     During that first winter Josiah got sick once and almost had to be hospitalized (he was so fragile and a cold could be deadly). It was nerve racking. But I have gotten use to what the warning signs are and not to panic so quickly. He has to sleep elevated and had a special pillow that elevates his mattress  As time has gone on I have learned that it's better for him to sleep in his little reclining seat because it doesn't irritate his feeding tube site. We had to have the site cauterized at one point, because it was so irritated! I have also learned not to worry so quickly when it does become irritated and he to treat and help heal it.

Dakota, Dad, and Josiah.

     We've had lots of help, from visiting nurses, to therapists and feeding specialist, to all kinds of different doctors and nutritionists. Josiah finally came off the oxygen in August and has FINALLY gained weight after losing it and then getting "stuck" at that weight. He had 4 different surgeries, but each time there was more then one surgery scheduled for that day. Now that we are done with surgeries for a while, we have been able to start teaching him how to orally eat. Praise God!!

"Rock on"

A VERY tired Mommy and Josiah.

 














        The Lord is merciful and mighty to save! He has given us a son with such a sweet disposition and fighting spirit. People have wondered why God has given us so much to handle as a family. I don’t have the answer to that question, all I know is that God promises to not give us more then we can handle. Throughout everything one of my biggest concerns was pointing the way back to Christ through my actions and attitudes. When we weren't sure if Josiah would make it or not, I wanted the medical world to know that we wanted him to live and would fight for that precious life, but ultimately God is in control and we would submit to His will. I am so thankful that God has answered our prayers and allowed our son to live!

before first lip surgery.

Before the palate surgery.

"Beware of fretting, murmuring, complaining, and giving way to an impatient spirit. Regard your sickness as a blessing in disguise – a good and not an evil – a friend and not an enemy. No doubt we should all prefer to learn spiritual lessons in the school of ease and not under the rod. But rest assured that God knows better than we do how to teach us. The light of the last day will show you that there was a meaning and a “need be” in all your bodily ailments. The lessons that we learn on a sick-bed, when we are shut out from the world, are often lessons which we should never learn elsewhere. "

~ J.C. Ryle

I loved that quote, what a great reminder whether it's you that is not well or a child, God is using it to sanctified.

One Year Later Part 4

“For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.” Psalms 139:13

Cross stitch I made while on bed rest.

         Welcome, for those of you just joining us today is day 4 of my son, Josiah's story as of yet.
You can read the first 3 days by clicking here: 

Day 1    Day 2     Day 3

Under the blue light therapy. During 1st week.

    

      Since I reacted to the spinal tap, I didn't get to see Josiah much that first week. I spent most of it lying flat in the hospital bed with an ice pack on my head. That was really hard but at the same time a relief in a way. I wanted to see and visit him, especially since I was already there at the hospital. But it was always so overwhelming in the NICU.   

Terms I didn't understand…Quite…Alarms going off..Blue lights…No touching or handling him…Tubes and wires everywhere…antibiotics…Blood transfusions…fluid in the lungs. 

     I could write several posts on life in the NICU, but there's not enough time for that.I will do my best to make this post "small." *smile* If you ever have questions about premature babies or NICU life, If you want to know more I'd be happy to share later on. It's crazy looking at the pictures he looks so much bigger then he was. It was skinny and about the size of perhaps a squirrel. 

Right after they stabilized him. His eyes where open !

     The NICU is quite expect for the ring of bells and alarms going off (Oh and crying babies. *smile*). There is an area for the stronger babies, that are not in an incubator and a dark even quieter area for babies who are. All the little babies in incubators start with blue ight therapy because they have such high amounts of jaundice and they wear little black eye shields. The incubators have blankets over them to keep them even warmer, though each incubator is regulated at it's own temperature. You are not allowed near another baby, for their needs are all so different.

“And the Lord, He IS the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”  Deut. 31:8

     From the beginning the doctors marveled at what a little fighter Josiah is. I'm not surprised, God gave him that personality to survive through it all! Even that first night, the doctor said he was wiggling and thrashing his little body. While in the NICU they had to constantly strap him down (gently of course), because they didn't want him to hurt himself and he was using up too many calories! They wanted him to gain weight, which was VERY important in order for his lungs to develop.   

7 days old. They unstrapped him, so he could stretch and say, "hi."

     Risk of infection and sickness where always a BIG concern. You have to scrub up and wear a gown before entering the NICU. We eventually could stick our hands into the little holes to touch his hands. But you always had to sanitize before touching him. You could leave the little doors open to quietly talk to him, but could breathe on him.

7 days old, fighting an infection.

But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Luke 12:7

     Almost right away they realized that he was fighting an infection (a parents worse nightmare). They discovered that's why I went into labor. He was on antibiotics for several weeks until it finally cleared. Praise God for diligent nurses, they noticed two minor things (I can't remember what they were), that change and checked for infection. Who knew that something as simple as wet diapers or body temperature changing by a degree or two could indicate something so serious?! Because they caught it at the beginning he had a fighting chance and got through it within a few weeks!!

Kangaroo Care.

     Though it was scary, our struggles could have been worse. His heart had a valve that didn't close off (it does it in the womb). After a few days and rounds of a medication, the valve closed.Once again God spared us! I couldn't even think about heart surgery. He also had bleeding in the brain, but it was small and healed on it's own. Thank you Lord! 

15 days old. He LOVED to hold things. They made him a little toy to hold.

      When Josiah was about 1 week old, we found out his lungs where filling with fluid. They had to puncture one of his lungs and insert a tube. If it didn't work and his lungs continued to fill with fluid, it would be too much pressure on them and they would collapse one after the other and there would be nothing they could really do. If that where to happen, it would cause his heart to collapse and he would die. Talk about SCARY news!! I could only concentrate and think about the present moment though. Once again the Lord spared us much heartache, and the tube worked, the fluid drained, and they where able to take the tube out! Every time I see his scar, it reminds me how fragile life is! It's a reminder that we are here today and gone tomorrow. Am I investing the time that I should into my children? Am I living my life for the glory of God?

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day [is] its own trouble.” Matt. 6:34

     After that he continued to slowly grow and get stronger. I got to finally do kangaroo care (snuggle him up against my skin)!!! I can't even begin to tell you the JOY of finally being able to hold your child. Quote from scrapbook, "Mommy got to do kangaroo care for the first time! Sat. Oct 1 (day 14). First time I heard you make a noise! You squeaked (like a mouse) then settled in and fell sound asleep on Momma!"

The nurse took our picture. I was trying not to cry. It was SO awesome but terrifying at the same time!

      My husband and I spent as much time as we could visiting and reading to him, (so he would recognize out voices). I didn't get to spend nearly as much time with him as I would have liked, which was REALLY hard. It was also REALLY hard to see him react to his main nurse's voice more so then mine. I wanted to cry, "I'm your mama, not Mary!" But I'm and always will be grateful for her loving care and treating my son as her own.

He continues to grow...

Feet Day 1

Feet Day 30 (a little bigger)

     I got sick and couldn't see our little guy for 1 1/2 weeks! Augh! That was hard. But when I got there he was wearing an outfit (besides dressing up for (Halloween) for the first time! I remember thinking he looked like a "real" baby. Oh, course it was WAY too big even though it was a preemie outfit. But oh so cute!

     In November he got to move to the more mature preemie section. Yeah! After Thanksgiving he drank a little from a Haber-men feeder (a special bottle for cleft palates). And almost immediately they gave the green light to have him transferred via ambulance to a hospital closer to home. We were SO excited! The hospital he was being transferred to was the same hospital I delivered my girls at with my midwife. That excitement was soon squelched!

Sleeping with Daddy! 

“Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, And He who formed you from the womb: “I am the Lord, who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself;” Isaiah 44:24

     To make a long story short, it seemed half the nurses were rude, the head special care doctor was VERY rude to me (she made me cry after meeting her for the first time), the wouldn't allow the girls to visit, and they had crazy rules as to when you could visit! St. Elizabeth's encouraged you to visit whenever you could, even if that meant coming in at 1am and leaving at 5am. You could visit whether it was feeding time or not, as long as your child was stable you could hold them. Not at Holy Family. They only wanted you to come during feeding times and if I couldn't make it they made me feel soooo guilty. I WANTED to visit my son, but I had to find people to watch the girls and it had to work out that they could do it at the same time as his feeding, plus I had to calculate Naomi's nap time. Augh! I couldn't wait to get him out of there!

First Christmas at Holy Family

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…” Jeremiah 1:5

      Joseph was having a hard time drinking and still got most of his food through the tube down his throat. He would gag and choke because of the cleft palate and he would get tired very quickly due to his lung disease. He was marked failure to thrive. He spent his first Christmas at Holy Family and was then transferred to the NICU at Children's Hospital in Boston. Praise the Lord!! I couldn't wait to get him out!

     Children's hospital was awesome! Just like St. Elizabeth's they work with as a parent and understand that this is a difficult time and that perhaps you have other children. Once again the girls could visit him. To top it off, they allowed Dakota to hold Josiah!!! Oh, the excitement! *smile*

     After about a week Josiah had surgery to have a G-tube put in his stomach. Woohoo! One step closer to going home. Exciting and scary! Then the girls and I got a stomach bug and had to wait a week to see him. The hospital needed the bed space so as soon as I was better, i came in to train on giving him his medications, feeding and care the g-tube, how to work the feeding machine and oxygen machines, and all the risks and what to do in an emergency. Whew! It was a lot to learn in two days! On January 16, 2012, after 3 NICU's, 4 months and weighting over 9lbs, Josiah Benjamin got to come HOME!!!!

Right after surgery. He had an IV in his head. Yuck!

Josiah waiting to go home!

“I waited patiently for the Lord, He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and the mire; He set my feet upon a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” Psalm 40:1-2 

Tomorrow I will wrap up this week by sharing what life has been like having a child needs at home and where we are today.

For His Glory,

Christen

One Year Later Part 3

     

     For those of you just joining this is day 3 of a week long series on my son's story so far.

     After a month at my parents house my husband flew home for a weekend. I spent that Sat in bed at our apartment, while he took care of the girls and I. That night I was in a lot of pain and couldn’t sleep, so my husband took me to the E.R. Everything seemed normal, so they sent me home. A few hours later I woke up to blood all over the bed and when I went to the bathroom I left a trail. Back to the E.R. we went! After 2 ultrasounds; many hours waiting for answers; and the hospital trying to reach my midwife and the hospital I was suppose to deliver at, I was informed… that my uterus was full of blood...my son would die…if I started hemorrhaging there I would bleed to death (they didn't have enough blood on hand to save me). Thankfully a better equipped hospital was willing to take me as their patient. They had enough blood on hand for the transfusion I was told I would need and they are more experienced. Looking back I see God’s hand in everything, from them believing my uterus was full of blood, to my husband being home that weekend.

Josiah

                I was then rushed by ambulance into Boston (an 1 ½ hour drive with no traffic). I had to sign a consent that stated we wouldn’t hold the EMT liable if I died along the way. I remember begging God for the life of our son and having peace, but also terrified. I also remember hugging my husband and two girls good bye and wondered if that was the last time I would see them?! The EMT’s were clearly nervous and informed me that if I became unstable, they would go to the nearest hospital for treatment. I felt so numb; I couldn’t wrap my brain around everything and also couldn’t have handled it at that moment. Every time we went under a bridge the siren made a wailing sound and I remember thinking that was the sound my heart was making!!! Please God save our son!

     Praise God for Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital!! Immediately their staff was so much better, they helped calm my nerves and I immediately loved the doctor that agreed to take me on! She brought an ultrasound machine right to my bed and immediately calmed my nerves. She discovered my uterus was NOT full of blood! Praise God! She had a hunch my water broke, which they discovered was indeed the case. Due to the bleeding it had stressed my body out and caused my water to break. God is sooooo good!! I found out the earlier your water breaks the most likely you will stay pregnant longer (go figure).

                I had to stay on bed rest at the hospital for the remainder of my pregnancy and they wanted me to lie on my side to help my uterus retain as much fluid as possible (which is NOT comfortable 24/7). Things didn’t suddenly go smoothly and problem free. It was lonely; I hardly saw our daughters or anyone for that matter. My husband took our one year old daughter down to MS with him and my sister in-laws and mother in-law helped care for her while he worked. My mother took my oldest and cared for her. Thank you all for caring for my girls as your own!! *smile* My husband would fly in on the weekends which helped make the week go by faster. My uterus wasn’t retaining enough fluid for our son’s lungs to develop properly, it kept leaking out. When your water breaks there is no barrier to protect you or the baby, so I was monitored 24/7 for any signs of labor or infection (infection can cause you to go into labor). I struggled with feeling grumpy, from constantly being woken up.

Dakota visiting me at the hospital. :)

      About 2 weeks in, the nurse was helping me settle into my bed to eat dinner (I could only get up to use the restroom and take short showers). Out of nowhere I was in intense pain and it wouldn't go away! I’m still not sure exactly what happened…it was all so fast and I was in so much pain. The short of it is, I became unstable, was dilating (it was too soon for our son to survive!), but there was no sign of infection (praise God!). I would feel panic and at those moments I would hand our son’s life over to God the giver and taker of life. When I would do that I would have “peace that surpasses all understanding”

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your

 requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will 

guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:6-7

     They told me they could give me something that should stop the dilating and hopefully stabilize me.  But a doctor that I had never met before was concerned about a possible infection later. He stated we could kill our son (in his word’s abort him) and save my uterus or take the meds and put both of us and my uterus at risk. I remember sobbing and saying I wanted my husband! A nurse was so sweet she helped me call my husband on the phone and they took over from there. The next thing I knew was I was semi waking up with excruciating back spasms (due to the meds). The next day I awoke to find out I was still pregnant! Praise God!! But was on STRICK bed rest for 2 days (a catheter was place and everything)!! It was decided that it would take a miracle of God to make it to 24 weeks. It's "funny" with my other pregnancies I didn't necessarily pay attention to how many weeks I was along, let alone days...but with Josiah was anxiously counted down each and EVERY day. Each one counted. 

     Many, many people where praying for God to have mercy and save both our son and I, people half way around the world, that I didn’t even know. I got such sweet letters, with words of encouragement and verses. God is so MERCIFUL! My tear healed while I was in the hospital! My placenta previa cleared up (shortly before I went into labor) so the worry about bleeding to death was gone! Actually we learned that if Josiah wasn't breach I could birth naturally (which i prayed for). God allowed me to be pregnant a few more weeks and at 24 weeks and 5 days, I went into labor (any sooner than 24 weeks and he wouldn’t have survived).I can't tell you what rejoicing we had when I reached 24 weeks! What a relief! Our ultimate goal was to get to 32 weeks (which they said would be a miracle). I had been worried that something would happen when my husband was not there and once again God is so GOOD. 

      My husband had flown in late the night before and that Saturday we finally got to visit the NICU (they had been too busy before. Once again I can now see God’s timing) and met some of the parents. All day I had been feeling funny (which wasn’t unusual), around dinner time, I told the nurse I was having contractions, the problem was it wasn’t showing up on the monitor. The doctor was busy and couldn’t come right away and I kept insisting that something wasn’t right and that I was having contractions. Within 2 hours I was in full blown labor being wheeled about to and fro, trying to get an I.V. into me and to find out if he was breach or not. 

The following verse is the verse God gave me while I was on bed rest and I clung to this verse and read it over and over again:

For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 

     Josiah was breach and had to have an emergency c-section (I never want one again, I reacted to it and had the WORSE headaches ever due to swelling on the spine). I remember thinking how quite it was when he was born, no baby cries and I had no idea if he was alive or dead.  Praise the Lord; he was alive, though they did have trouble getting him to breath at first. Our little man was born 3 ½ months early and only weighed 2 lbs 6 oz, but he lived!            

Tomorrow I will share our story of Josiah living in the NICU and having a special needs baby. 

Have you ever had the peace that surpasses all understanding? Have you ever had a baby in the NICU? I would love to hear about it! See you tomorrow...

If you missed the first two click here:
 Part 1      Part 2

For His Glory,