My Faith and Joy… and Boys!

I have to admit, I sometimes get lax about getting together with friends.  Days and weeks pass by and I neglect to pick up the phone and call people.  I’m just not a phone person, but that’s no excuse in today’s Facebook-friendly world.  I love actually being with friends, so I guess I just need some extra motivation to make it happen. 

Becky is more than happy to provide that extra motivation.

Today, she excitedly ran into the kitchen to tell me that she was having our friends Chris and Sarah over for dinner.  I obeyed her urgent requests to follow her into the family room, and she proudly showed me the table she had set for the event:

It may not look like much to the untrained eye, but I saw that she had arranged multiple place settings for our honored guests, and had been busy preparing them “tea and pasta” (I’m assuming the tube of M&Ms were for dessert, not the main course, although I’m not sure about that). 

She had even made sure Chris and Sarah were properly represented:

So…consider me motivated. 

Chris and Sarah – how about dinner at our house?  I’ll even serve you on life-size dishes.  And you can let me know whether M&Ms suffice as the main course!

I had the rare, wonderful opportunity today to get together with a group of ladies and their kids at a friend’s home in Massachusetts.  Between the four of us, there were ten kids aged seven and under (plus my little one-to-be!), so it was a gloriously busy household.  The kids entertained each other well, so we moms were able to enjoy the delicious brunch and catch up on each other’s lives.  It was hard to believe that the last time we were able to get together was November 2008, when many of the kids (including my girls) were only babes in arms. 

Now, look at them! 

I couldn’t help but take a picture of the amazing brunch Roseann prepared for us:

And here’s the beautiful hostess herself!

And the newest member of the club, Roseann’s adorable little son:

At firs, Becky wasn’t sure what to make of the baby:

But she soon warmed up to him, once she saw that he was one popular guy:

The big kids couldn’t get enough of him! 

I am so blessed to know such sweet, Godly women.

I hope it won’t be another two years before we can see each other again, but I trust that the Lord will bring us together in His perfect timing.  I’m so thankful for any time I can get with these ladies! 

I’m going to have to take a (hopefully) brief blogging break due to some computer issues. I’ll be back regaling you with the girls’ antics as soon as I’m able!

Well, it took all day, but we’re finally plowed out of the biggest snowstorm that Jim has ever seen (it’s certainly the biggest storm I’ve ever seen, but that’s not saying much, since my pre-marriage exposure to snow was mostly limited to frosty grass).  We got at least 25 inches of new snow on top of the foot we already had on the ground.  Which meant that our back deck had snow piles taller than the girls:

Jim was in his glory, using various machines to try to deal with the massive accumulation. 

Unfortunately, even his normally-capable Ranger wasn’t getting it done, and we were thoroughly stuck.  Even a professional plow truck that was driving by attempted to dig us out, to no avail.  Jim warned me not to go into labor today, and I told him I’d do what I could. 

We eventually had to call in the cavalry – that is, Jim’s dad’s tractor.  Dad brought the tractor down on a trailer this evening and finally freed us from our personal Antarctica.  The girls and I watched the progress from our dry, warm vantage point.  Three cheers for Pappy’s tractor!   

Yesterday was a milestone for me.  I reached the stage of this pregnancy at which I was admitted to the hospital three years ago while pregnant with the twins. 

24 weeks and 1 day. 

I doubt I’ll ever forget May 16, 2008.  Jim and I drove early that morning to the University of Connecticut Hospital in Farmington for a Level II Ultrasound to find out whether a small, benign “choroid plexus cyst” had resolved that had previously been spotted in one of our girls in the previous scan.  It was supposed to be our second and last trip to UConn for the benefit of their ultrasound facilities, as we were planning to deliver at a local hospital.  Little did I know that I wasn’t going to be home again for another two and a half months. 

It was a cool, rainy day and I remember lamenting that the weather that year hadn’t yet cooperated to let me wear many of the cute spring maternity clothes I had recently purchased.  Neither Jim nor I were very anxious about the impending appointment; we had been told that the cyst, even if it hadn’t resolved, was most likely harmless.  We were just looking forward to another peek at our daughters.   

It wasn’t until the end of the scan, after we were happily informed that the cyst was gone and the girls looked fine, that the ultrasound technician appeared somewhat concerned and asked us to wait to speak to the doctor.  Her behavior caused me some concern, but I figured I was just being paranoid.  Then the doctor came in, asked us a series of questions that seemed odd and inconsequential at the time.  He did his own evaluation, and then told us, matter of factly, that I was in labor.  I had had no idea.  Nothing would be the same again.   

I was rushed into the Labor and Delivery department where, upon examination, it was found that I was having frequent but painless contractions that were causing dilation.  If I remember correctly, I was about four or five cm dilated – halfway to delivery stage.  I was immediately started on a host of medications designed to halt labor, including magnesium sulfate or “mag.”  The mag was extremely powerful, making me too weak to move, think, or even see.  As a result, I don’t remember much about the next three days of treatment.  One of the only clear memories I have is of a neonatologist coming into my room and explaining to me that, given the early stage of my pregnancy (I was still only in my second trimester), and the girls’ relatively low weights (I think they were only about a pound each), they only had a 50/50 shot of surviving if I delivered then and there – which the doctors expected me to do.  If one or both did survive, they would likely suffer from disabilities, possibly profound ones.  But every day that the girls stayed inside, their rates of survival skyrocketed and their rates of potential disabilities plummeted.  Every day was vitally important. 

But it was out of my hands. 

Thankfully, it was in the Lord’s Hands.

I still can’t believe that He brought me into the best hospital in the state on the day that I went into active labor. 

I still can’t believe that He kept these girls safely inside of me for another ten weeks after I went into labor.

I still can’t believe that He allowed them to be born healthy and whole and beautiful. 

I still can’t believe that He has given me two and a half amazing years with my twin miracles.

And now I can’t believe that He has brought me so far with yet another miracle inside of me.

I don’t know how long He will allow me to keep this precious baby inside of me, or in my arms for that matter, but I am so thankful for every day.