Dry Run

This past week has been full! I think I experienced every emotion imaginable over the past 6 days. 

To start off with, I was bummed Monday and Tuesday because I was missing a big work event in Houston on Tuesday evening.  Everyone insisted that I stay in Austin, and I agreed, but my work is very important to me and I hate to feel like a slacker or that I'm letting anyone down.  My attendance wasn't needed because my business partner Leslie is such a rock star that she could handle it with one hand tied behind her back but I was still upset.  Well, leave it to God to put things into perspective the moment you start feeling sorry for yourself because Tuesday afternoon around 2pm I started having contractions.  Having a contraction here and there is no new thing but these were coming more frequently and lasting longer.  I wasn't nervous until I 'heard' God or the Holy Spirit tell me "You need to pack your bag for the hospital." There wasn't an audible voice but it delivered a distinct and clear message.  I'm not sure if men experience this but you know the feeling when you are sitting at work and something tells you, "You need to call your mom!" and you do and she's been crying?.......or something wakes you in the middle of the night and tells you, "Go check on Maggie!" and sure enough she has a fever?  I think most people call it Women's Intuition but I believe it's the Holy Spirit.  What I heard on Tuesday I can most closely describe as Women's Intuition mixed with a strong spiritual conviction at the same time. I was scared and stressed out because I didn't have everything I needed yet for my hospital bag and it is not December 3rd! Well, fast forward a few hours and my contractions were not going away, the medicine I have for contractions wasn't working and the doctor called and told me to go ahead and check-in at Labor & Delivery at our hospital.  I hastily threw things into my bag and went out the door.  Christian met me there and we were being evaluated a short time later.  The good news is that the contractions stopped with the medicine I had already been taking, so it was just another false alarm.  The worrisome part was that the hospital was not prepared for us as we had been assured they would be.  We met with different officials of the hospital over a month ago to go over our birth/care plan for John and Sam and to make sure they had all the forms and correct authorizations needed to carry out our wishes. We were told repeatedly that when we arrived at the hospital all of this information would be in our record and things would run smoothly.  This was not the case.  It was chaotic.  After a few upsetting comments from our nurse, we had to tell her about John's diagnosis and alert her to the fact that we have a birth plan that we've already discussed with the hospital.  It was not our nurses fault. Yes, she said some insensitive things but under normal circumstances an expectant mom might have thought they were funny. After being monitored and seen by the doctor we were able to go home, thankfully! Praise God!  I was so happy that everything was okay and that I got to go home but I was also worried about how crazy things would have been if that had been delivery day.  I think this dry run at the hospital was a blessing because since Tuesday I have been able to contact the hospital staff, notify them of what went wrong and receive confirmation that it will not be like that on delivery day.  I trust them but just to be safe, I have multiple birth plans, contact lists and emails printed out in my now-almost-completely-packed-hospital bag! :) 

The hospital bag situation brought to mind other ways I am not as prepared as I should be at this point.  All along people have recommended to have as much in place as I can by 28 weeks and I'm 27 weeks.  So I spent time this week thinking of all the things I've yet to do.  For one, I need to have outfits ready to take to the hospital for John. Because of his condition he will not be the same size or proportions as a healthy newborn and I feel strongly that he should have an outfit that fits him in this world. I also know that I would be upset if he didn't have something special to wear when he leaves our arms.  I had mentioned this to Lene' a few weeks ago and I'm so glad I did.  Little did I know, Lene' and my mom have already taken care of all of this!  Lene' special ordered beautiful outfits for John and adorable outfits for Sam from micro-premie to newborn size, just in case the boys are very early.  I am so thankful that they took care of this for me.  I haven't wanted to think about it but I also wanted it to be done with love and thought and they knew that. 

There are many other things I dealt with this week that were saddening but I was able to make it through because of all of you!  Every day this week I received an unexpected letter, card, email or gift in the mail to brighten my day and let me know that people are praying for us.  The support has been unbelievable and so thoughtful! The Lord is using you to sustain me: 

Isaiah 46:4 
Even to your old age and gray hairs
    I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
    I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

Yesterday, my sweet friend Elena took maternity photos of me with Maggie. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do them but I'm glad I did. I know they are usually done further along in pregnancy but I'm not sure how many more weeks I'm going to be given on my feet.  Although Maggie was not in the most cooperative mood, Elena is a photographical (is this a word?) genius who was able to make it look like Maggie didn't mind the inconvenience! :)  I will share some of them when they are ready. 

We have a doctors appointment with Dr. B on Wednesday and Dr. U on Friday.  I can't believe it's already been a month since our last sonogram.  I'm excited to see my babies on Wednesday. I hope they cooperate more than Maggie and allow us to get some good pictures.

Thank you for your prayers and friendship!
Love, Krystle