Have you ever said something that you hoped didn't happen and it happen just almost immediately after? For example, you are speeding and the though crosses your mind that you hope that cop isn't up ahead waiting and yet around that very next curve there sets the cop.
Or have you ever said something was going well and then it breaks down? For example you say that your car has been really running well after having some work done on it, and the very next day you break down on the side of the road.
At the time Francie wrote the previous blog post I didn't know she had 1) written the blog post or 2) posted the blog post. BOTH of which are normally no big deal and has happened several times in the past (and to be honest probably will happen a WHOLE lot more now). However if I had known what I know now, I would have stopped her from hitting "Publish Post".
In the previous post Francie wrote "I've been blessed to have a fairly easy pregnancy so far." This sentence was one of those times where life immediately throws a curve.
Three days after posting the blog post, Francie and I were set to go to a Christian conference about 12 hours away via a church charter bus (aka a Greyhound style bus owned by a sister church). The bus was planning to leave around 2:00 AM that Friday morning, and so, the night before Francie and I were laying in bed trying to get some rest before getting up to go get on the bus. While laying there trying to go to sleep Francie raises up and says “SOMETHING IS COMING OUT OF ME!” Now if you follow this blog, and have done the math, you know that “something” was NOT suppose to come out for SEVERAL more weeks!!!!
While not the baby itself, there was something coming out of Francie…and it was not good. Knowing that this was not good, I immediately told Francie that we were going to the ER. After getting dressed, we quickly left the house and quickly arrived at the hospital. Now, in my defense, we live fairly close to the hospital, and it was late at night, and the roads were clear. :) But needless to say grass didn’t grow under my feet in trying to get to the hospital.
On the way to the hospital, Francie called our OB-GYN doctor and told him what was going on. Unfortunately our doctor was in DENVER!! Luckily our doctor has a partner who was in town and he was able to meet us at the hospital. Once we arrived at the hospital, the entrance that I needed to go to was locked for security reasons. Getting to the door, I realized that it was “locked” (it was a set of sliding doors that just was turned off so that they wouldn’t automatically open) so I simply “encouraged” the doors to open. :) Once in, I told Francie to sit in the nearest wheelchair and wheeled her to the section that we needed to go to.
After arriving in the section where we told to go to by the doctor, the medical staff performed several tests/ultrasounds/exams/etc within a very short period of time. One of the most important things that gave us some relief was when we heard our baby’s heart beat on the fetal monitor that put on Francie’s abdomen. In looking at the tests, it was determined that it would be best for both Francie and the baby to send her to the nearest NICU. This NICU was over 2 hours away via car (driving the posted speed limit). Because of this, the NICU medical staff said that Francie had to be air-lifted to this NICU; unfortunately I was not allowed to join in the excitement of riding in a helicopter.
After taking her away, both Francie’s mom and I got our things together and drove to the hospital 2+ hours away in less time than it would normally take. In my defense, we did leave around 2:00 AM, I had my flashers on, and the roads were clear. Now for those that might get upset about how quickly I was driving, let me first say that I never went speeds faster than what I have seen many people do on the interstate in just regular driving. :)
When arriving to the hospital Francie was already in her room with several pieces of equipment hooked up to her. There were several questions that we had for the medical staff and they were wonderful about politely answer them all. We cannot say enough about the doctors and nurses that we have dealt with so far. Over the course of several hours they did blood work, another ultrasound, examinations, and monitoring of the baby. Everything looked fine. Therefore because of ruling out every other possibility, they have decided that Francie had a “marginal sinus abruption”. In laymen’s terms this is where a very small part of the placenta breaks away from the uterine wall.
This seems to be correct in the research that we have done, and the only thing that can be done is to rest in bed and wait. By resting, we hope the complications of this event will cease and appear no more. If the complications do cease, and remain that way for 24-36 hours then the medical staff will reevaluate what actions will happen next. As of the time of this blog post, we believe that we have just entered the 24-36 window. However if the complication reappears (even to a slight degree) then the clock starts all over. While frustrating, we both would rather have the clock reset and nothing happen then to be sent home and something happen and Francie have to be flown again to where the NICU is located.
In all of this we can see many times in which God has been working in this situation. We see how God gave us a situation where we were already packed for an out-of-town trip so that we didn’t have to waste time trying to figure out what to pack at the last minute. We see how God prevented us from being on a bus on our way to the conference when this horrible event happened. We see how God kept us from being on the bus when it broke down in the middle of nowhere. We see how God allowed safety to each of the hospitals that we have dealt with. We see how God has made a potential very serious issue in which we could have lost our baby to a situation where in the long run both Francie and the baby are fine. We also see how God has allowed us to come to a city where several family members and friends live so that we can have a very large support group if we need it.
God is wonderful and has given us many blessings that we do not deserve. We thank him every day for these blessings and pray that we will use our blessings to His glory and ultimate purpose.
We seek your prayers and ask that you continue to pray for us as we continue to walk down the path ahead.
Speaking of the path ahead, you may be wondering what happens after the 24-36 hour window is up. Well…that’s a great question. Stay tuned because we don’t even know that far in advance yet. :)
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