Friday, September 30, 2011

I miss you

I want to talk about this, but yet I don't.  I want to share better news, but yet I can't.  I want to sit and cry in my bed all day, but I have a family to take care of.  I want to still be pregnant, but I'm not.

I was planning to share some wonderful news with everyone in a couple of weeks.  I had an idea of how I was going to tell people.  I had known I was pregnant fairly early.  We had already told our families and were just waiting until the 12 week mark to tell everyone else.  But now I will share my heartbreak, which is still fresh and new and painful.  My words may not make sense.  My mind may be scattered.  My heart may be completely broken.  But my God is bigger and will help me and the rest of my family get through this.

I was 9 1/2 weeks pregnant.  I went into the doctor on September 7th for my first prenatal appointment.  It started out as normal.  They took my weight, blood pressure and gave me a "goodie" bag of all the fun magazines and a pamphlet of what to expect during your pregnancy.  I talked with the nurse practitioner about how I was feeling and my previous pregnancies.  Then I was given an ultrasound to determine my exact due date.

According to all the dates, at that time, the baby should have been an 8 1/2 week old fetus, but the ultrasound showed it was only a 6 1/2 week old fetus.  The nurse practitioner told me that it was ok and maybe our dates were off or I got pregnant later than the "calendar" said I should have.  However, we saw a heartbeat or something "pulsating" (the nurses word) on the screen.  She went and talked with my doctor and they decided they wanted me to come in the following week to see an ultrasound tech just to make sure everything was ok and to ease my mind a little.

Friday afternoon (September 16) I went into to see the ultrasound tech.  She asked me some routine questions and then proceeded with the ultrasound.  She turned the screen away from me right away and I knew that wasn't a good sign.  She did a lot of clicking and looking and clicking some more.  I watched her face for a while for some kind of response, but there was none. I knew in my heart what the answer was going to be anyway. I didn't want to start bawling on the table so I started to look around the room and pray for everything to be ok.

I prayed a lot last week.  I prayed that God would take care of the baby and prepare me for whatever the outcome was.  I thanked him for already knowing the outcome and for having everything under control.  Even though I felt very much out of control.

After clicking and looking she said she was going to turn on the doppler for a moment.  Pure static.  No noise of a heartbeat, no wavy lines across the screen.  Flat line static.  Then the tears started falling.  I wanted to wake up from my horrible nightmare.  I wanted to see what was happening.  I wanted to say good-bye.  I wanted to go home and cry and hold my boys and tell them I loved them.  Sometimes I feel like I'm overreacting.  Sometimes I feel stupid for not knowing that I wasn't pregnant anymore.  I know that miscarriages happen often.  My doctor told me 20% of pregnancy end in a miscarriage, but those are other people, not me.

She eventually turned the screen so I could see and she could explain to me what she was seeing.  She saw no activity of a baby.  No more blood flow, no more movement, no more heartbeat.  She was very caring and told me in as nice of words as she could find that my body had and was prepared for a baby, but the baby just didn't make it and she was sorry to be the bearer of bad news.  I said I understood and would be ok.  She was very kind and told me I could stay as long as needed and when I was finished I could go sit in the lobby and wait for them to come get me so I could talk to my doctor.

I didn't want to go sit in the lobby.  Everyone would be staring at me and my bright red, bloodshot eyes and my blotchy skin.  But I pulled myself together and went and sat in the lobby, but as soon as my butt hit the chair the ultrasound tech called me back into her office and let me sit in there so I could have some privacy.  I was so thankful because I was already getting lots of stares.

My doctor came in a few minutes later and told me what to expect.  I know it's not easy to tell someone that they lost a baby and I was very thankful to both the ultrasound lady and my doctor for any information they could give me.  I know it's their job and they probably do it often, but this was my first and I'm thankful for the way they explained things and let me know what to expect.

As soon as I was done I left as fast as I could.  By this time I just wanted to be in the comfort of my home.  Thomas had been at soccer practice and wanted me to text him right away with the results.  The hardest text I've ever written was "we lost the baby."  I didn't want to hit send.  That would make it real.  We'd been looking through baby name books and had told our families.  I didn't want to say it was over.  But I sent it and then started the texts to everyone else.  We lost our baby.  He or she was now in heaven.  God was holding them now and I would have to wait my turn.

Arriving home was tough.  To see my boys playing and having fun knowing that I will never get to see that from this baby.  I hugged my boys and cried.  I'm sure they were wondering what in the world was wrong with me.  Garrison did ask why I was crying and all I said was I was sad.  That was good enough for him.  He just hugged me back.

I know I'll be ok.  I know God has us in his arms, but for now I hurt.  We hurt.

__________________________

I wrote this days after finding out we had lost our baby.  It has been two weeks now and I am okay.  The weekend after we found out we lost the baby was a crazy one.  We had lots of activities and I over did it a little, but God showed me and is still showing me that he is in control.  Looking back I can see many ways he prepared me for the loss even before I knew there was anything wrong.  I've spent my fair share of crying and praying and I am at peace and have enormous comfort though our wonderful Savior.

Thomas and I have decided that we will remember our baby by framing the only picture we have of them- a little ultrasound picture of him or her at 6 1/2 wks when I was able to see them for the first time and saw that little heart beating away.  (Thomas did not come with me to either appointment.)

I wish that I could meet our baby here on earth, but I love thinking that they are being taken care of by the greatest one- Jesus.  He gets to hold them, kiss them and love on them now.  And one day I'll be able to do the same and you better believe I'm going to be making up for lost time.

We didn't tell many people that we were pregnant or that we had lost them, but to everyone who knew - thank you for your calls, cards and prayers.  They have meant the world to us.  We are so blessed to have people who love us dearly and we love you all back.

8 years is a long time

Last month my best friend from high school came for a visit.  You remember, I hadn't seen her in 11 years.  Well the other day I was able to see another friend that I haven't seen in 8 years.

I was actually on the phone, in my pajamas, (luckily I had showered) when my sister came running in to tell me that Melissa Neal was only a few blocks away and was wondering if she could stop by for a visit.  Needless to say, I hung up the phone and started running around the house trying to prepare for a friend I hadn't seen in years.

She arrived with her beautiful children and her mom, Sue (who is one of my parents dear friends.)  It was so nice to see them and catch up.  Garrison and Josiah loved having all the kids around too.  I forgot to introduce Garrison and Josiah to Melissa's kids.  At one point I apologized to Garrison for not letting him know the kids' names that he was playing with.  He said, "That's okay, mom.  I've just been calling them my buddies."  How cute is that!?  Tonight I posted a picture on facebook of all the kids together and Garrison saw it and said, "Hey mom!  Those are my buddies."  Too bad we all didn't live closer to each other.  

It was so nice to see Melissa, her kids and Sue.  It was my first time meeting 3 of Melissa's kids.  I really hope it's not another 8 years until I see them again.  
   Top - Kazia and Elijuah
Bottom- Symacus, Josiah, Garrison and Mijimin  (I hope I spelled their names right.)

Aren't they all so stinkin' cute?!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Josiah turns 2

Josiah turned 2 on September 24th.  Thomas was out of town that day so we celebrated Josiah's birthday on the 23rd instead.  We spent the day going to the Children's Museum, the train depot and to McDonald's for some free happy meals.  That night I made homemade taco pizza.  We had cake and opened presents.  


This is what Josiah saw when he came down for breakfast.  I love decorating the boys' chairs.  They get to spend their entire birthday meals surrounded by balloons.  It's fun!  Even if Josiah spent more time hitting the balloons then eating any of his food. 

The bouquet of balloons Josiah received from Papa Williams.  The great big one said "Happy Birthday, Josiah" every time you hit it.  It made for great fun!  Even today, almost a week later, that balloon is still just as big and they still hit it just so it will talk.

My camera is slow and this picture was supposed to be of them punching the big balloon.

The table setting for Josiah's birthday supper.  It was just the 4 of us.  We invited some family, but nobody was able to make it.  We still had a great time.

The cute little place settings I purchased from Celebrate Express.
Happy 2nd birthday, Josiah Thomas!
We love you more than words could ever describe.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Some of us were on tv

How often does my family get on tv twice in one week?  Oh, never.  But it happened one week in August.  Thomas was on the news on the 9th and the very next day Jackie was on.

Here are the two clips of them from the local evening news.  Click on their names to see the clips.

Thomas

Jackie   (You'll see the side of Jackie's head at 1:21.  She's the cashier checking out the family.)

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Life with a 3 1/2 year old

Thomas and I have been having "fun" conversations with Garrison lately.  Here are 3 of them...

Garrison:  "Mom, I'm going to freak out right now!"  As he proceeds to throw himself on the floor crying, kicking and screaming.  
* I don't remember why he was "freaking out", but I just ignored him and walked away.  It ended rather quickly.   The magic of being ignored. 

______________________________

Garrison and Josiah were playing in their playroom the other day when I went to go check on them.  As I walked into the room I witnessed Garrison slap Josiah across the face.  I sent Garrison to time out and this is the conversation I had with him afterwards...

Me: "I put you in time out because you slapped your brother across the face.  We do not do that.  Why did you slap Josiah across the face?"

Garrison: "He was distracting me."

_____________________________

Here's a conversation Thomas had with Garrison...

Garrison:  "Dad, I want money."

Thomas:  "Garrison, the way you get money is by behaving, doing what we ask you, telling dad and mom that you love them..."

Garrison:  "Dad, I love you.  Can I have money?"