April I

This month didn't seem as busy. I think it was because we had come to grips with the fact that we would be going back and forth to many appointments and so we were able to brace ourselves with prayer before each one.

The first part of the month my friend came up to me and asked what song I had told her about that was explaining my feelings a month or so ago. I searched through my notes and couldn't find anything in particular that matched the description she gave, which is that it was an Aaron Shust song. So I spent the afternoon researching all of his songs and nothing came to me. That night at church during prayer I heard the words "A peace that passes understanding is my song , and I sing, my hope is in You, Lord." That's it I yelled. Then I went to her to find out the rest of the story. She informed me that she heard that song on the radio and the announcer said that Aaron's baby that was just born was going to be going in for open heart surgery. I almost started crying that this song played in my head while I was experiencing what I was going through with Nathan and the writer himself was going through something similar. I felt like it was made for us to say "you're not alone." After church that night one of the guys who attends our church asked me what our next appointment was so he could be praying for us. I told him that actually the next day was our next appointment. As he was walking away he turned and said " just remember, God has a plan in all of this and no matter what happens He is in control."

The next day we had an appointment with the Perinatologist. They told us Nathan is a whopping 2pounds now. Then of course he has to bring up the other stuff he said the fact that Nathan has this heart defect gives is a 25% chance that it is congenital and the two vessel cord ups that percentage a little bit. Then he went on to say "however, babies with congenital disorders are usually very small and your boy is measuring at least a week and a half ahead if not more so that brings your percentage back down a ways." Praise the Lord!! I keep remembering the fact that they have yet to pin point a cause for the heart defect. It could only be God waiting to show Himself mighty when He heals our boy.

About this time is when the idea of a blog came to me. I have already been writing everything down and with all of the people we have all over the country praying for us it would be easier for people to follow us. My hope for it also would be for people who are going through similar situations to see the hope, peace, and faith we have and hopefully they will come to know the Lord through it, if they don't already.

This month we also made our first trip home since finding out about Nathan. We decided to make the trip Easter weekend. I was really nervous about how people would act toward us. I prayed a lot before going. God answered my prayers and people mostly just asked how we were doing  and how Nathan was growing. Quite a few people also told us they were praying for us. I can not wait for God to heal little Nathan to increase everyones faith around us.

Just after Easter I had my Glucose Screen. I was not looking forward to it and not for the same reason most women don't like it (I really don't mind the drink)  #1 because it was in the same lab where we had our ultrasound and found out about Nathans heart, #2 I really dislike needles, and #3 I didn't control myself too well on the Easter candy over the weekend. At the end of my one hour wait the
lady called me back to do the blood draw and she asked how the pregnancy had been going so far. I took the opportunity to share with her about his heart and how we had hope that God will heal him and all she said in the end was "well bless his little heart." A few days later was my next OB appointment to get the results from my screen. The doctor said i passed with flying colors (thank you Lord.) I was in a really good mood especially after hearing that and the doctor even made it a point to say he noticed we were in good moods today. Then at the end of the appointment he told us that in a couple weeks we would start going to weekly appointments with him where we would to the regular OB checkups as well as a onehour Non-Stress Test (NST) where I would be hooked up to monitors so they can keep an eye on Nathans and my stress levels to make sure everything is ok. Not only would I be doing weekly NST's with my OB he also said that I would also be going to the Perinatologist once a week for the same thing. So Mondays I will be at the Perinatologist and Thursdays at the OB. Well if that's what my baby needs then that is what I will do.
I can't wait for him to be healed.

Mid month there was a Womens Retreat where women from churches all across our area came together for a Friday and Saturday conference to worship and learn from God's word. Friday night we separated out into groups of four or five people to branch out and meet new people. During our small group time I had a chance to share Nathan's story with the women in my group. After small group time one of the ladies from my group asked if she could request prayer for me during prayer time. I agreed. When evening session was over she came and got me and took me to one of the ladies from her church who was on the prayer team up front. The lady prayed for me and shared a good word with me that included God chose Dave and I for this task because He TRUSTS us and found us worthy. Just like Mary bringing the miracle called Jesus into the world. At the close of camp the second day the sermon ended talking about HEALING POWER (something I did not expect with the other sermons we had heard that weekend). Then we were all handed cards and we were instructed to write a letter to God telling Him how we were going to take what we learned about this weekend and apply it to our lives. After writting the letters we were to take them up and put them on the alter and the speaker was going to take them home and pray for all of them individually. I took my card up front and when I turned to go back to my seat I was stopped by a woman who is a Pastor's wife from a neighboring church that I know and she said we are going to pray for you please wait here. So I stood up front while the music continued and people were having their own prayer time. When the room was quiet again she grabbed the mic and announced to all the women that were there that she wanted the women from my church to come up and stand around me and then she told the other ladies that they were going to pray over me and Nathan and that the doctors say he has half a heart but we know that God can heal and she invited anyone else who wanted to come lay hands to do so. Before I knew it I had around 80-100 women around me I felt hands on my shoulders, head, back, stomach, arms, legs, and even feet. I could definatly feel the power of God around me at that time and it was very humbling. As everyone was finished and walking away I heard a lady (I didn't see her there were too many people around me) say "I believe you are the reason most of the ladies were called up here this weekend so they could pray for you." That made me start crying all over again and filled my hope again.