Since I've had Paige on June 30, I have been reminded time and time again about God's goodness. I wanted to write about it, so that people can share in the joy that comes from seeing Him work in your life.
As many of you know, this was a very difficult pregnancy for me. For Christopher, too, I'm sure if you asked him. I had a problem that started early on in my pregnancy called symphasis pubis dysfunction. It began in about my 3rd month of pregnancy. I was excited to be pregnant again, because my pregnancy with Ava was what some would call 'cake'. No real problems, no pain, just the usual discomfort with the increase in size. So in my mind I was ready to handle it again. I had no idea what I was in for. What this problem is, in a nutshell, is a misalignment of my hips which stretches the ligaments of my hips out in the wrong manner. You don't really see anything different, but sleeping and moving from sitting to standing or vice versa was extremely painful. I ended up having to take some pain medicine regularly and wearing this get-up which was supposed to help give my abdomen more support so it didn't pull on the ligaments of my hips. It worked fairly well in the beginning, and my sister gave me exercises to try and naturally pull my hips back into alignment. The exercises hurt, but they seemed to help somewhat, too. The doctors tend to not do much for this problem, much to my disappointment, chalking it up to the 'aches and pains of pregnancy'. Now, I know there are some things that you really can't do anything about medically, but finding yourself in shoes that need some help makes you really think a lot differently. I was at the point in the 7 month where I was really having a hard time getting around at work. Work involves a lot of moving, being on your feet, and trying to keep up with the avalanche of requests being made of you from everyone, staff and otherwise. Everyone kept asking me when I was going on maternity leave, and I kept telling them not for about 2 more months. I must've looked pretty pathetic, though I was trying to keep mum about my pain until I was in the break room and could put my feet up and rest. When I couldn't get around very well at home I decided there was no reason to try and keep going at work, which was much tougher. I ended up having to go on maternity leave 2 weeks earlier than the 2 weeks early I was originally planning to do. So I was off on leave the beginning of June, due the end of June and completely miserable. I thought I was going to be put on bedrest because I kept having contractions, but nothing regular. I prayed to God I would go early; I wasn't able to turn in bed at all without excruciating pain, and I was already up several times a night either using the bathroom or trying to move to a different position in bed. I figured "if I am already up all night because of these things, I should have a newborn." I guess not. So, my family took turns coming and staying with us to help out. It was wonderful to have them around to help, because the burden had started to fall almost completely on Christopher. I could tell it was wearing him out, but he wasn't going to complain. So, I was reminded about God's goodness with a wonderful and witty family, and also an amazing husband who didn't complain about my inability to do much. They all helped me keep my sense of humor through the pain and difficulty. God knows if I don't laugh, I don't do much. It keeps me feeling alive.
As each day came and went, I became a little more sad that I was so uncomfortable and God hadn't relieved me from it yet. God never promised to keep us pain-free, but he does promise to be there with us through it. And He was. It got hard to give people the same 'surfacy' answer to the question, "how are you doing?" Most people just ask it to make conversation--they don't really want all the details. They hope you are doing fine, and they have done their duty to talk to a pregnant person. Truth was, I wasn't doing fine. I was in pain all the time, it was extremely hard to breathe, and I was tired all the time. But since there wasn't anything anyone could do, I'd just give the same old reply, "hanging in there". There were nights where I would cry in bed because I was so ready for it to be over. With Ava, I could've been pregnant for a lot longer, because it wasn't such an ordeal to carry her for 9 months. This time, every time I went into the doctor's office the receptionists had the look on their face of, "oh, we thought you were due a long time ago!" I kept waiting for the doctors to talk about inducing because of how horrible I was feeling, and especially since I was having contractions frequently, but not at regular intervals. They didn't want to induce, and now, in a rational moment, I didn't want it either. But I was so tired and wiped out, anything sounded better than being pregnant for one more day. By the way, 'stripping your membranes' does not work, and is horribly painful. It sounds so tempting, like it will help, but it won't. I didn't know it was painful, nor do they mention that at all. I didn't know it wouldn't work until after I had it done and 3 weeks had passed. When they asked me if I wanted them to strip my membranes while I was at my next appointment, I told them, "No, I already had that done." There was this long, silent pause.....I said, "You mean, you can have it done more than one time?! Oh God, no. I do not want that done again." I stopped going to anywhere where I would have to talk to people and fake like I was feeling fine. I would go hang out with my girlfriends, which helped, because they knew the whole story and didn't need any rehashing of it. Plus, half of them are pregnant, too, so we could all sympathize pretty well with each other. That was a saving grace. So, God's goodness was exhibited by how he has blessed me with such amazing friends. They were ones who were really praying for me when they said, "I'll be praying for you." They showed genuine concern and love, and it makes it so easy to love them in return. I know I don't always do it well, or in a way that really expresses my gratefulness, but they are amazing ladies. Truly a gift from God!
Well, I didn't go early, even by one day. I started having contractions the morning of June 30, which was my due date. God knew that was THE day. I wished I knew so that I didn't get so worked up and worried that I would go late. Would've saved me some tears. It was hard at first to tell if I was really in labor, as I had been having contractions for about a month at that time. I just figured I was desperate enough that I was going to call the doctor and let them know I was coming. Maybe they'd have compassion on me and admit me even if the contractions weren't close enough. Truth be told, I never noticed a break in between them. It just felt like one continuous contraction, though it wasn't super strong. So, like any gal in desperation, when the Dr asked how far apart my contractions were, I said 3 minutes, hoping I would get the green light to head to the hospital. I got the go ahead. I was going to go regardless, but it felt good to be legit! We had to wait for Heidi to come over to be with Ava before we left for the hospital. It didn't take too long. Once we hit the highway, the contractions didn't seem nearly so painful. 'Oh, great' I thought. 'False alarm and now I will be the nurse who wasn't smart enough to even know if she was in labor or not.' No one wants to be that person, but I would be downright embarrassed if I was wrong. Medical people are supposed to know EVERYTHING medical, don't you know? (that's what most laypeople think)
Well anyway, whatever happened it was going to be a long day. So I told Christopher he could go through the Tim Horton's drive-thru and get coffee and a bagel, as the dads often get neglected when it comes to nourishment in the hospital. (Rational thought for someone in labor, don't you think?!) I knew I shouldn't eat, because it might interfere with my medication plans. I only had one bite of the bagel, and none of the coffee. It was tough to resist. I was hungry, too. But I figured if we were going to be out and possibly sent back home, he might as well have some breakfast. We got to the hospital, and I walked myself in. Christopher parked the car and hid the coffee under his coat and the bagel in my hospital bag. He thought it might look a little too casual and unconcerned for the dad to be eating his breakfast while his wife is writhing in pain. Probably wise--you never know what those nurses think. We got into triage about 6am and they hooked me up to the monitors. I've seen bigger contraction markings from hiccups than I had from being in labor. I just looked at Christopher and said, "please don't let them send me home. I will start bawling, and then I will beg them to keep me and make a big scene." I meant it, too. They called my doc, and decided to keep me and admit me. I was so thankful at that moment I welled up with tears. I had butterflies in my stomach for the excitement of finally having this child. As they were wheeling me over to the labor and delivery unit, I noticed on my chart it said "Early Labor" on it. I asked the nurse about it--I said, "why does that say 'early labor?'-- today is my actual due date. there is nothing early about this child." She explained that it meant I was in the early stages of labor, not that I was in premature or early labor. "Just checking--I wanted to make sure." I make it a habit to not mention I am a nurse unless someone asks what I do, especially in a hospital. It makes them act differently, and I don't want that. They either won't tell you anything, because you're a nurse and you know ALL medical stuff anyway (not true), or they'll tell you every little thing because they don't think you trust them because you DO KNOW some medical stuff, but they don't know exactly what the extent of your knowledge is. So I made it to my labor and delivery unit, and we settled in.
The nurse,Liz, got my admission information and said to just let her know when I wanted the epidural. I said, 'ok'. She started me on some pitocin to try and regulate my contractions. Prior to the pitocin, I was dilated to 3 cm. She left for a bit, and Christopher finished his bagel that was now cold. When she returned, I told her, "last time, I didn't have to tell anyone when I was ready for my epidural. They just knew I wanted one and got it taken care of. So how do I know when to ask for it this time?" She said, "when you are getting too uncomfortable, ask." I wasn't too bad at that time, but 10 minutes later, she walked in and saw my face and said, "I'll go get the epidural gal to fix you up". So they did, and it was great. I love epidurals. Anyway, not long after the epidural was in, I was starting to feel the urge to push. They came to check me, and only 30 minutes after starting the pitocin, I was dilated to a 9. My sister wanted to be there for the birth if she could, so I was trying to hold off pushing. We had just gotten off the phone with her and she was going back to her condo to freshen up and brush her teeth. It was 9:50am. I told Christopher to call her back and tell her if she wanted to see this thing, she needed to come right away. I tried to talk myself into waiting until 10a to try and push to give her time to get here. Problem was, the baby didn't know that. I had to start pushing.
Heidi got there in time to see the delivery. It was less than 20 minutes and 3-4 rounds of pushing before the baby was out. Even faster than with Ava, which was amazingly fast for my first baby. When they told us it was a girl, we were thrilled! We would've been thrilled either way, but the wait was finally over! We named her Paige Annelisse; I picked out the first name, and Christopher picked out the middle name. We both agreed on them, of course, but I wanted Christopher to have sole rights to picking out the middle name. Heidi got to cut the cord, which was pretty cool. Paige was pretty purple and not crying a whole lot. They let me hold her for just a few seconds, and then whisked her off to the NICU to try and get her to breathe a little better. Christopher went to the NICU, and I stayed back in the room with Heidi. Paige was in the NICU for about an hour on oxygen. By the time she was out of NICU, I was already moved to my room in the the Mother-Baby Unit. Here is another token of God's goodness--my sister. She is the most amazing person, and the best sister anyone could ask for. She has always been such a good friend to me, and very loving and supportive of all I do. She and I can always crack jokes and the other 'gets it' without having to explain. God knew I needed someone like her--I have watched her grow into a loving, nurturing person. And though she is 2 years younger, you wouldn't know it. We know each other inside-out, and there isn't anything we wouldn't do for each other. Though I could beat her in Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy (he he), there isn't much else; she is just so smart! She picks up things really fast, and then just excels at them. Things come easy for her, or at least she doesn't give up until they look easy when she's doing them. She has the determination of a lion, yet continues to stay compassionate and loving to people around her. And she's passionate about the things she loves--she and I could talk U of M football all day long. We enjoy watching sports together (thanks to our brothers), and the things we love to do, we love with everything in us. She is half-hearted about nothing. She is an inspiration to me. I look at her and it motivates me to do better, try harder. So having her there with me was such a great honor. My mother got to watch Ava being born, and my sister got to watch Paige--the two women most close to me were with me for two of the most amazing moments in my life. God has truly given me a gift in my sister. I love her!
Okay, so here's where I really started to experience, or at least recognize, God's goodness in this situation--post partum. It was a horrible pregnancy, but the labor and delivery seemed like a reward for just making it through the pregnancy. Of course, this clarity didn't come until after I was finished with the whole birthing process. I started to count my blessings while I was in my hospital bed, literally, of the amazing circumstances that surrounded me at that time.
As many of you know, this was a very difficult pregnancy for me. For Christopher, too, I'm sure if you asked him. I had a problem that started early on in my pregnancy called symphasis pubis dysfunction. It began in about my 3rd month of pregnancy. I was excited to be pregnant again, because my pregnancy with Ava was what some would call 'cake'. No real problems, no pain, just the usual discomfort with the increase in size. So in my mind I was ready to handle it again. I had no idea what I was in for. What this problem is, in a nutshell, is a misalignment of my hips which stretches the ligaments of my hips out in the wrong manner. You don't really see anything different, but sleeping and moving from sitting to standing or vice versa was extremely painful. I ended up having to take some pain medicine regularly and wearing this get-up which was supposed to help give my abdomen more support so it didn't pull on the ligaments of my hips. It worked fairly well in the beginning, and my sister gave me exercises to try and naturally pull my hips back into alignment. The exercises hurt, but they seemed to help somewhat, too. The doctors tend to not do much for this problem, much to my disappointment, chalking it up to the 'aches and pains of pregnancy'. Now, I know there are some things that you really can't do anything about medically, but finding yourself in shoes that need some help makes you really think a lot differently. I was at the point in the 7 month where I was really having a hard time getting around at work. Work involves a lot of moving, being on your feet, and trying to keep up with the avalanche of requests being made of you from everyone, staff and otherwise. Everyone kept asking me when I was going on maternity leave, and I kept telling them not for about 2 more months. I must've looked pretty pathetic, though I was trying to keep mum about my pain until I was in the break room and could put my feet up and rest. When I couldn't get around very well at home I decided there was no reason to try and keep going at work, which was much tougher. I ended up having to go on maternity leave 2 weeks earlier than the 2 weeks early I was originally planning to do. So I was off on leave the beginning of June, due the end of June and completely miserable. I thought I was going to be put on bedrest because I kept having contractions, but nothing regular. I prayed to God I would go early; I wasn't able to turn in bed at all without excruciating pain, and I was already up several times a night either using the bathroom or trying to move to a different position in bed. I figured "if I am already up all night because of these things, I should have a newborn." I guess not. So, my family took turns coming and staying with us to help out. It was wonderful to have them around to help, because the burden had started to fall almost completely on Christopher. I could tell it was wearing him out, but he wasn't going to complain. So, I was reminded about God's goodness with a wonderful and witty family, and also an amazing husband who didn't complain about my inability to do much. They all helped me keep my sense of humor through the pain and difficulty. God knows if I don't laugh, I don't do much. It keeps me feeling alive.
As each day came and went, I became a little more sad that I was so uncomfortable and God hadn't relieved me from it yet. God never promised to keep us pain-free, but he does promise to be there with us through it. And He was. It got hard to give people the same 'surfacy' answer to the question, "how are you doing?" Most people just ask it to make conversation--they don't really want all the details. They hope you are doing fine, and they have done their duty to talk to a pregnant person. Truth was, I wasn't doing fine. I was in pain all the time, it was extremely hard to breathe, and I was tired all the time. But since there wasn't anything anyone could do, I'd just give the same old reply, "hanging in there". There were nights where I would cry in bed because I was so ready for it to be over. With Ava, I could've been pregnant for a lot longer, because it wasn't such an ordeal to carry her for 9 months. This time, every time I went into the doctor's office the receptionists had the look on their face of, "oh, we thought you were due a long time ago!" I kept waiting for the doctors to talk about inducing because of how horrible I was feeling, and especially since I was having contractions frequently, but not at regular intervals. They didn't want to induce, and now, in a rational moment, I didn't want it either. But I was so tired and wiped out, anything sounded better than being pregnant for one more day. By the way, 'stripping your membranes' does not work, and is horribly painful. It sounds so tempting, like it will help, but it won't. I didn't know it was painful, nor do they mention that at all. I didn't know it wouldn't work until after I had it done and 3 weeks had passed. When they asked me if I wanted them to strip my membranes while I was at my next appointment, I told them, "No, I already had that done." There was this long, silent pause.....I said, "You mean, you can have it done more than one time?! Oh God, no. I do not want that done again." I stopped going to anywhere where I would have to talk to people and fake like I was feeling fine. I would go hang out with my girlfriends, which helped, because they knew the whole story and didn't need any rehashing of it. Plus, half of them are pregnant, too, so we could all sympathize pretty well with each other. That was a saving grace. So, God's goodness was exhibited by how he has blessed me with such amazing friends. They were ones who were really praying for me when they said, "I'll be praying for you." They showed genuine concern and love, and it makes it so easy to love them in return. I know I don't always do it well, or in a way that really expresses my gratefulness, but they are amazing ladies. Truly a gift from God!
Well, I didn't go early, even by one day. I started having contractions the morning of June 30, which was my due date. God knew that was THE day. I wished I knew so that I didn't get so worked up and worried that I would go late. Would've saved me some tears. It was hard at first to tell if I was really in labor, as I had been having contractions for about a month at that time. I just figured I was desperate enough that I was going to call the doctor and let them know I was coming. Maybe they'd have compassion on me and admit me even if the contractions weren't close enough. Truth be told, I never noticed a break in between them. It just felt like one continuous contraction, though it wasn't super strong. So, like any gal in desperation, when the Dr asked how far apart my contractions were, I said 3 minutes, hoping I would get the green light to head to the hospital. I got the go ahead. I was going to go regardless, but it felt good to be legit! We had to wait for Heidi to come over to be with Ava before we left for the hospital. It didn't take too long. Once we hit the highway, the contractions didn't seem nearly so painful. 'Oh, great' I thought. 'False alarm and now I will be the nurse who wasn't smart enough to even know if she was in labor or not.' No one wants to be that person, but I would be downright embarrassed if I was wrong. Medical people are supposed to know EVERYTHING medical, don't you know? (that's what most laypeople think)
Well anyway, whatever happened it was going to be a long day. So I told Christopher he could go through the Tim Horton's drive-thru and get coffee and a bagel, as the dads often get neglected when it comes to nourishment in the hospital. (Rational thought for someone in labor, don't you think?!) I knew I shouldn't eat, because it might interfere with my medication plans. I only had one bite of the bagel, and none of the coffee. It was tough to resist. I was hungry, too. But I figured if we were going to be out and possibly sent back home, he might as well have some breakfast. We got to the hospital, and I walked myself in. Christopher parked the car and hid the coffee under his coat and the bagel in my hospital bag. He thought it might look a little too casual and unconcerned for the dad to be eating his breakfast while his wife is writhing in pain. Probably wise--you never know what those nurses think. We got into triage about 6am and they hooked me up to the monitors. I've seen bigger contraction markings from hiccups than I had from being in labor. I just looked at Christopher and said, "please don't let them send me home. I will start bawling, and then I will beg them to keep me and make a big scene." I meant it, too. They called my doc, and decided to keep me and admit me. I was so thankful at that moment I welled up with tears. I had butterflies in my stomach for the excitement of finally having this child. As they were wheeling me over to the labor and delivery unit, I noticed on my chart it said "Early Labor" on it. I asked the nurse about it--I said, "why does that say 'early labor?'-- today is my actual due date. there is nothing early about this child." She explained that it meant I was in the early stages of labor, not that I was in premature or early labor. "Just checking--I wanted to make sure." I make it a habit to not mention I am a nurse unless someone asks what I do, especially in a hospital. It makes them act differently, and I don't want that. They either won't tell you anything, because you're a nurse and you know ALL medical stuff anyway (not true), or they'll tell you every little thing because they don't think you trust them because you DO KNOW some medical stuff, but they don't know exactly what the extent of your knowledge is. So I made it to my labor and delivery unit, and we settled in.
The nurse,Liz, got my admission information and said to just let her know when I wanted the epidural. I said, 'ok'. She started me on some pitocin to try and regulate my contractions. Prior to the pitocin, I was dilated to 3 cm. She left for a bit, and Christopher finished his bagel that was now cold. When she returned, I told her, "last time, I didn't have to tell anyone when I was ready for my epidural. They just knew I wanted one and got it taken care of. So how do I know when to ask for it this time?" She said, "when you are getting too uncomfortable, ask." I wasn't too bad at that time, but 10 minutes later, she walked in and saw my face and said, "I'll go get the epidural gal to fix you up". So they did, and it was great. I love epidurals. Anyway, not long after the epidural was in, I was starting to feel the urge to push. They came to check me, and only 30 minutes after starting the pitocin, I was dilated to a 9. My sister wanted to be there for the birth if she could, so I was trying to hold off pushing. We had just gotten off the phone with her and she was going back to her condo to freshen up and brush her teeth. It was 9:50am. I told Christopher to call her back and tell her if she wanted to see this thing, she needed to come right away. I tried to talk myself into waiting until 10a to try and push to give her time to get here. Problem was, the baby didn't know that. I had to start pushing.
Heidi got there in time to see the delivery. It was less than 20 minutes and 3-4 rounds of pushing before the baby was out. Even faster than with Ava, which was amazingly fast for my first baby. When they told us it was a girl, we were thrilled! We would've been thrilled either way, but the wait was finally over! We named her Paige Annelisse; I picked out the first name, and Christopher picked out the middle name. We both agreed on them, of course, but I wanted Christopher to have sole rights to picking out the middle name. Heidi got to cut the cord, which was pretty cool. Paige was pretty purple and not crying a whole lot. They let me hold her for just a few seconds, and then whisked her off to the NICU to try and get her to breathe a little better. Christopher went to the NICU, and I stayed back in the room with Heidi. Paige was in the NICU for about an hour on oxygen. By the time she was out of NICU, I was already moved to my room in the the Mother-Baby Unit. Here is another token of God's goodness--my sister. She is the most amazing person, and the best sister anyone could ask for. She has always been such a good friend to me, and very loving and supportive of all I do. She and I can always crack jokes and the other 'gets it' without having to explain. God knew I needed someone like her--I have watched her grow into a loving, nurturing person. And though she is 2 years younger, you wouldn't know it. We know each other inside-out, and there isn't anything we wouldn't do for each other. Though I could beat her in Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy (he he), there isn't much else; she is just so smart! She picks up things really fast, and then just excels at them. Things come easy for her, or at least she doesn't give up until they look easy when she's doing them. She has the determination of a lion, yet continues to stay compassionate and loving to people around her. And she's passionate about the things she loves--she and I could talk U of M football all day long. We enjoy watching sports together (thanks to our brothers), and the things we love to do, we love with everything in us. She is half-hearted about nothing. She is an inspiration to me. I look at her and it motivates me to do better, try harder. So having her there with me was such a great honor. My mother got to watch Ava being born, and my sister got to watch Paige--the two women most close to me were with me for two of the most amazing moments in my life. God has truly given me a gift in my sister. I love her!
Okay, so here's where I really started to experience, or at least recognize, God's goodness in this situation--post partum. It was a horrible pregnancy, but the labor and delivery seemed like a reward for just making it through the pregnancy. Of course, this clarity didn't come until after I was finished with the whole birthing process. I started to count my blessings while I was in my hospital bed, literally, of the amazing circumstances that surrounded me at that time.
Here is a list of some of the things I am still praising God for:
1. I didn't feel any severe pain with contractions.
2. I got to the hospital at 6:15ish am and had my baby by 10:15ish am.
3. I only pushed for 15 minutes.
4. I had an epidural that rocked!
5. I had a healthy baby.
6. I had a girl, so I had all kinds of girl stuff already and didn't have to buy more.
7. My girls have 2 really wonderful sets of grandparents that love them dearly.
8. My girls have 2 great-grandmas that got to see them pretty quickly after birth.
9. I had great nurses and doctors in the hospital. I felt completely taken care of. They took care of my pain and comfort issues very well.
10. Paige latched on right away like a Hoover vacuum. She nurses well.
11. My parents were able to stay with Ava while we were in the hospital.
12. Two of my good friends, both expecting, came to visit me in the hospital. They are so loving and kind. And man, can Jen make a mean oatmeal cookie--best I ever had. I even hid them from everyone except Christopher because I didn't want to share them. They were amazing!
13. I was up and about walking pretty quickly after delivery. My recovery time was so much quicker this time around and a lot less painful, even though I did have some stitches.
14. I got to have lunch with Christopher from down in the cafeteria; I had a great turkey wrap and we got to eat it outside because there was a picnic area and it was a beautiful day. The nurses said they were bored and wanted to rock some babies in the nursery. How could I refuse? Plus the cafeteria food was much more appetizing!
15. I had a fan in my room to blow right on me, which helped me sleep. I love fans!
16. I had a DVD player that I could watch movies on, and speakers to listen to my iPod, and a good book I could catch up on. All free because I brought them myself.
17. We got a new breast pump, which was 100% covered by our insurance. We switched to Christopher's insurance in the winter, and it has been such a positive experience. They are much more comprehensive than the insurance I was carrying.
18. I got to give the breast pump I had purchased used to a friend who happened to need one and didn't have one.
19. God has provided for all of our financial needs while I am not working and not bringing home a paycheck.
20. We didn't have to make meals for about a month because of my MOPS group and Sunday school class and friends bringing us meals. It was wonderful, and it really helped our grocery budget!
1. I didn't feel any severe pain with contractions.
2. I got to the hospital at 6:15ish am and had my baby by 10:15ish am.
3. I only pushed for 15 minutes.
4. I had an epidural that rocked!
5. I had a healthy baby.
6. I had a girl, so I had all kinds of girl stuff already and didn't have to buy more.
7. My girls have 2 really wonderful sets of grandparents that love them dearly.
8. My girls have 2 great-grandmas that got to see them pretty quickly after birth.
9. I had great nurses and doctors in the hospital. I felt completely taken care of. They took care of my pain and comfort issues very well.
10. Paige latched on right away like a Hoover vacuum. She nurses well.
11. My parents were able to stay with Ava while we were in the hospital.
12. Two of my good friends, both expecting, came to visit me in the hospital. They are so loving and kind. And man, can Jen make a mean oatmeal cookie--best I ever had. I even hid them from everyone except Christopher because I didn't want to share them. They were amazing!
13. I was up and about walking pretty quickly after delivery. My recovery time was so much quicker this time around and a lot less painful, even though I did have some stitches.
14. I got to have lunch with Christopher from down in the cafeteria; I had a great turkey wrap and we got to eat it outside because there was a picnic area and it was a beautiful day. The nurses said they were bored and wanted to rock some babies in the nursery. How could I refuse? Plus the cafeteria food was much more appetizing!
15. I had a fan in my room to blow right on me, which helped me sleep. I love fans!
16. I had a DVD player that I could watch movies on, and speakers to listen to my iPod, and a good book I could catch up on. All free because I brought them myself.
17. We got a new breast pump, which was 100% covered by our insurance. We switched to Christopher's insurance in the winter, and it has been such a positive experience. They are much more comprehensive than the insurance I was carrying.
18. I got to give the breast pump I had purchased used to a friend who happened to need one and didn't have one.
19. God has provided for all of our financial needs while I am not working and not bringing home a paycheck.
20. We didn't have to make meals for about a month because of my MOPS group and Sunday school class and friends bringing us meals. It was wonderful, and it really helped our grocery budget!
21. My parents are willing to provide child care for us on the days Christopher and I both work. They have been doing this for a over a year now, and it has been wonderful. It gives them a chance to play with their grandkids, and it gives us huge peace of mind knowing how well they raised me and my siblings. I know they are loving and kind, yet hold to the same principles of parenting we do. We do not worry when they are watching our girls. We know how lucky we are to have this.
So, to say I am grateful for God's goodness is an understatement, but it definitely needed to be expressed. Since I am a much better writer than speaker, I thought this would be a great way for me to get my thoughts down and hopefully inspire someone in the process. God was hard to see while I was pregnant, but I knew he was there. He always is. When his perfect time came, I was able to see the abundance he has given to me, and I am extremely grateful. And I know I am blessed.
