Thankful

There has been a Facebook trend for the past couple of years to post something you are thankful for each day in the month of November. I always mean to do it, but always seem to forget. Today, though, I want to talk about what I am thankful for, but it has nothing to do with it being the month of November.

Many of you know that before I was pregnant with Drew I had an early miscarriage. That left a lot of emotional "scar tissue", and for a woman who already worries too much, it made the beginning of both pregnancies very difficult. When pregnant with Drew I had a lot of early bleeding and was convinced I was miscarrying again, but God answered my prayers and brought my amazing little boy into this world. Again, early in my pregnancy with James, I had bleeding. You would think that after everything with Drew I would understand that it didn't necessarily mean anything, but it felt different, and once again I was sure I was miscarrying. I said many prayers and pleaded with God, and was very thankful that everything turned out just fine.

Later in the pregnancy an anatomy screening revealed an abnormality that easily meant nothing, but could possibly indicate a chromosomal defect such as Down Syndrome or Trisomy 18. All we could do was wait a few weeks for the baby to grow more so the doctors could see the heart, kidneys, hands, and feet better. I spent every single morning and night praying that God would make sure our baby was healthy. I prayed knowing that no matter what path God chose for us, He would see us through, but still prayed knowing that God does listen to our requests. At our follow-up ultrasound there was absolutely nothing that showed any issues, not even the abnormality that had first been noted. I said many thankful prayers once again.

I prayed for many things during the pregnancy, including that a low-lying placenta would move away from the cervix, that James would grow happy and healthy, and that I would have a safe and easy delivery. All my prayers were heard.

Today I come to God once again incredibly thankful for answered prayers. I have been a worried mess since Wednesday night, Halloween, when I thought I injured James' arm by accident. I took him to the doctor Thursday morning to find that I hadn't dislocated a shoulder, like I thought, but instead his forearm was broken! We then went to an orthopedic doctor for x-rays and found out that the arm was already healing, and had been for a while; the doctor suspected it was a birth injury. After coming home, though, I wasn't so sure. Sure, a birth injury sounded a whole lot better than "I broke my baby's arm", but it didn't seem to fit. I spent time looking at photos and the arm looked fine, up until a day or two before Halloween. I started to worry it wasn't a birth injury, but something that happened later. And, according to pictures, it appeared that it had, indeed, happened before Halloween night. If that was the case I worried it was a bone defect because how else do you unknowingly break a "bendy" baby's arm? I decided to see another orthopedic doctor for a second opinion, and proceeded to spend the whole weekend praying hard that my baby was healthy, happy, and perfect.

We saw the second doctor yesterday and she hardly had to look at the x-rays before she said that with the amount of healing she saw, she would easily say it was a birth injury. She said babies don't always show signs of broken bones the way adults do, and may even use the injured body part for a while before beginning to show any signs of an injury. The doctor said it's healing perfectly and there is no need for a cast or physical therapy (all of which the first doctor had said). She said that the x-rays show no reason to be concerned about bone structure, and he shows no other signs of common bone defects.

As if that wasn't enough, James also had his circumcision yesterday. Everything went very well, and we got to be in the room with him, cuddling him through the whole procedure (he hardly fussed at all!). But 4 hours after the procedure I realized he hadn't peed at all! Another hour passed and I really started to worry. I said to Jason, "when should I start to worry that he hasn't peed?" to which Jason replied "apparently an hour and a half ago." He knows me too well. Time kept passing and no pee so I sat and prayed. By the time I opened my eyes the little yellow stripe on James' diaper had turned blue, indicating that, sure enough, he had peed.

God truly is amazing and I can never be thankful enough knowing that I will never deserve the many blessings that God allows me to have. I am so thankful for both of my beautiful boys, and I hope to honor God in the way I raise them.