The Best Valentines Gift Ever!/Bragging on God

So I had to share some photos...My life is not consumed by miscarriage although, I do think of the babies we lost, often...I have a constant and beautiful reminder each day of God's blessings on my family. Carson was born and I was finally a mother! He is now four years old and is smarter than ever! Everyday, I am surprised by the things he says and by how much he knows.

I recall the morning that I took the pregnancy test...it was February 14, 2006. I had waited all weekend because I did not want to be disappointed once again by a negative result. Do you know how hard it is to wait an entire weekend with the test in your bathroom drawer? Anyway, I woke my husband and shared the great news! And eight months later, I had a beautiful, tiny baby all my own. My pregnancy wasn't without complications, though. I threw up everyday for about ten weeks, until week 16! It got so bad that I started carrying containers and plastic grocery bags in my car for the drive to Nashville. 

Even my coworkers didn't get concerned when I'd leave the room and return a moment later, several times a day. I would have sickness morning, noon, and night! When that was over, I felt great!

Then I started having swelling and seeing stars in my eyes. My doctor did not catch it, but it was early symptoms of pre eclampsia. I delivered Carson by emergency c-section at week 36. Carson was very tiny because he had suffered from iugr (intrauterine growth restriction). He wasn't gaining the proper amounts of weight because my body wasn't giving him all the nutrients he needed. Scary, huh? He was immediately whisked away by ambulance to the NICU in Nashville at a hospital called Centennial. And oddly enough, it was the hospital organization I had been working for for 6 years. I was released on the Saturday after he was born and went to see him straight away. The nurses offered us a room that wasn't being used and we stayed the night. I got to see and hold my baby and even breastfeed for the first time. I was in so much pain from the incision and I was also dealing with high blood pressure and head aches. I was also trying to pump milk with some ancient, rusty, breastfeeding pump and it was a huge pain...literally. My husband thought it would be funny to play around in my wheel chair. He was spinning around on two wheels (as I sat on the commode, I know tmi...) and laughing hysterically that is, until he tipped over the wheel chair and landed flat on his back! All I heard was a loud, thud, and "I'm Okay!" I laughed so hard and cried from the pain of my incision for over an hour. 

In the two weeks following, I pumped my milk day and night to take to the hospital for my baby and patiently waited for my husband to get home to drive us into the city to see my baby. I would call at all hours of the day and night to check on him and see if he had gained weight. I talked family members into driving me to the hospital during the day. And many friends and family went to be with my baby during the day when I couldn't be there. That was so special to me. I was overcome with emotion each time I had to leave him, but I was very thankful for the nurses who took care of him round the clock. I was thankful that he had no breathing problems or underdeveloped organs. I keep thinking of how many people were praying for us and my little baby all through out my pregnancy. I still get tears in my eyes thinking about how many people were pulling for us and still are.

So, although I have had some heartache in the last year. It has also been the best 4 and a half years of my life! And if I don't have more children, I will be forever grateful to God for my son. He's my joy! He's growing up way too fast. And I know that what my mother says is true...they grow up quickly and time flies because it seems just like yesterday that I was looking into the isolette and now we're looking at schools in our neighborhood to decide on one before he starts kindergarten! I guess I'm writing and sharing my wonderful son with you because I know that some of you don't have children yet and long for your very own baby. We are living proof that there is power in prayer and the power is God! One of the most recent visits to my genetic specialists revealed the chances of my husband and I having a healthy baby were slim to none...something like 10-13%. 

So before I was plagued by miscarriage and 

before any knowledge of any faultiness in my body, God gave me a son. Thank God.