Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Happy unBirthday

six years ago

I woke up with a bachache––the same backache I’d had for two weeks. My belly was enormous. Pulling on my huge maternity pants, I realize this is the last week I can wear them. Unbelievable.

At Bible Study, I can hardly sit in my chair, my back hurts so much. “Don’t be a baby,” I tell myself. I didn’t want to be one of those whiny women, complaining all the time about aches and pains. After all, I want these babies more than anything. I wasn’t about to start complaining about the pregnancy.

My BSF leader pulls me aside after class. “Are you okay?” She asks. The tears come without warning.
“My back,” I explain.
She wraps her arms around me. “Call your doctor. Today. Right now.”
“But it’s normal,” I tell her. “Back pain is normal when your belly is this big.”
“It is normal, but there’s also a lot that can go wrong in a twin pregnancy.” She is a nurse in addition to being a BSF leader.
“I have an appointment this afternoon. I’ll mention the back pain.”

When I get home, I check on the turkey thawing in the fridge. I clean my bathroom. Something inside me knows there is something wrong.

“I’m sorry for the discomfort,” my doctor says, “I just need to make sure I’m feeling what I’m feeling.”

Minutes later, I’m in a wheelchair. My doctor tells a nurse to call labor and delivery. He pushes my wheelchair down a hall, to the elevator. Walking briskly, he explains, “You’re in active labor. We need to stop the labor. Now, we just saw the babies on the ultrasound. You're at 26 weeks. The babies are almost 2 pounds and they do have a chance. But we’re going to do everything we can to stop this.”

“But I need to go home,” I tell him, “I’m making the turkey tomorrow.”

My doctor pauses and comes around my chair to face me, kneeling down. “Sweetie, you’re not making any turkey tomorrow. You’re not leaving this hospital until these babies are born. Nobody will care about the turkey. They’ll get a pizza or something. It doesn’t matter.”

And so it was. Nobody cared about the turkey.

Once the drip of magnesium sulfate started, I didn’t care about much of anything. Between the hot flashes and extreme nausea, I just held on through that long night. Prayers bubbled up from my soul; prayers I couldn’t think to pray, but they came groaning out of me anyway. “Please, God.”

He was present during that first long night, and on that strange Thanksgiving day. He was present.

And He heard. He answered. And my babies did not come on this day, six years ago. And the noise I hear right now in the next room is a sweet reality.

Happy unBirthday, noisy boys. Today I celebrate God’s faithfulness to you both; to me. Surely He gave me the desire of my heart that day. And I am so grateful.

15 comments:

bauer zoo said...

that is beautiful! brought tears to my eyes.

Craver Vii said...

Your doctor was like Seinfeld's "Soup Nazi."

No turkey for you!!

Thanks for sharing. :-)

Llama Momma said...

bauer zoo -- thank you for stopping by. I'm glad you were blessed by this story. God's story, really. :-)

Craver -- Actually, I think they did bring me turkey. I don't think I ate it, though. And my sweet in-laws, and even the in-laws, in-laws, stepped in to cook the turkey. And they all took shifts coming to sit with me in the hospital, so I wouldn't be alone.

I'm amazed at the sweetness of this memory, when at the time, I was terrified. And so, so sick. And yet, God showed up. People reached out. And so it has become a sweet reminder of His tender care.

And tomorrow, Lord willing, I am cooking the turkey! (Not the same one, mind you. That would be gross!)

Anonymous said...

What a lovely story.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Llama Momma said...

Thank you, Sandra.

Happy Thanksgiving to you too!

FrazzMom said...

So glad you had New Year's babies instead of Thanksgiving babies! Hearing about the boys now- it's easy to forget what a miracle they are... I hope this Thanksgiving is less eventful than that one 6 years ago!

ChosenRebel said...

Get this off your blog and into some magazine girl.

Anonymous said...

AMEN!! I agree chosenrebel!

(:-)

Llama Momma said...

chosenrebel -- thanks for your vote of confidence! Of course, the magazines I usually publish with tend to have even less readership than this blog! ;-)

23 degrees said...

"And He heard. He answered."

Amen, my friend, amen!

Anonymous said...

good story. thanks.

Llama Momma said...

23 degrees -- and amen! :-)

nancy -- thanks for stopping by!

Liberty said...

God is good!

Anonymous said...

LM - your story was so touching that I couldn't comment right away . . . and then I forgot to come back and actually do it. Thanks for sharing your memories - even the difficult ones. God is so good, isn't he?

Missy said...

You got me very teary eyed too!

I am a BSF girl myself. BSF brought me my husband We were both leaders in a coed Young Adult class. :)