I feel like it has been so long since I updated and like so much has happened. But yet all I've done is feed a baby and change his diaper! My whole entire life has changed and at times I still wonder when all this newness will finally become normal!
I reread the last update to see where I had left off. Jared and I continued to go into the hospital twice a day to see Isaac. After he was moved out of the ICU and into the Neonatology unit, Jared was not allowed to see him so I learned to go in by myself while Jared waited for me outside. Many of the nurses were grumpy and I learned to let their comments and advice roll off my back, or at least I tried to! Sometimes I would walk out of the hospital excited to tell Jared of the progress and the next time I would walk out in tears proclaiming that I will never go back to that place again! It was such an emotionally draining time. Finally on December 3rd Isaac was released from the hospital! With much joy we walked out the hospital once again...but this time in a much different way.
To describe the last few weeks is almost impossible! It's hard to put into words some of the feelings and emotions we have gone through in the hard journey to becoming parents! Isaac is growing and gaining weight! For the first few weeks I still had to take him into the hospital to be weighed but by now we are very thankful to be staying away from that place! Yesterday Isaac turned 7 weeks old and is just over 8 pounds! It's so hard to believe that a little over a week ago was his due date! The first few weeks that we had Isaac at home were filled with lots of sleep! He really wasn't awake a lot but as he passed his due date we have seen more and more open eyes! He does well at night and I feel grateful to get three hours, sometimes even four hours of sleep in a row. But, all that being said, I cannot say the adjustment has been easy! It's been a hard change for me to spend most of my days getting nothing accomplished. God continues to mold and shape my heart...even at 2am!
One thing I had forgotten to mention is that 5 days before Isaac was born Ginger, our dog, had 8 puppies! Jared was very excited for her to have puppies and I was experiencing something new! All to soon our world was turned upside down and Jared was not able to care for 8 puppies as well as a wife in the hospital! We were thankful for one of the teachers who loves dogs and is good friends with Ginger who wouldn't let just anybody back with her puppies! All 8 of the puppies survived, even the tiny little one. It has been a lot of work to have them over this time in our lives but finally this week each one of them went to their new home. It is a cultural thing to give puppies away for free and even though it felt like we should gain just a little bit out of all this work we decided to do things the Grenadian way. The puppies found homes with a few local neighbor children, some of the children from school and some of the church families. It was a good experience but I am glad to look out my kitchen window and see something other then 8 puppies looking back at me!
We enjoyed having Jim and Joyce Weaver, the new administrator of Olive Branch here for 3 weeks! The first week of their time here, Jim had 4 evening topics on the book of Philippians titled 'The Mind of Christ' it was all about being fully focused of Jesus Christ. Very interesting and challenging. Limes, Laborie, and Laura churches attended each evening so it made for a full church house each evening which was encouraging. Jim and Joyce also had a weekend marriage seminar for the married couples attending the three churches. The last evening of the marriage seminar was a lovely banquet! Little Isaac did wonderful while we were away in the evenings but when we got home later in the evening, tired and ready for bed, he was ready to have some awake time! It made for some long nights for me but I remind myself how often I looked at his still, closed, sedated eyelids and longed to see his eyes. Even now that helps me find a bit more joy in the morning hours!
One of the most special things that happened over the last few weeks was a visit from my parents and sister! They had bought refundable tickets for the end of January, knowing that they would not come before baby boy with those dates. When things went the way they did, they couldn't stay away! My sister Allison is the dean of women at SMBI and she has a two week Christmas break. She told my mom and dad that she was thinking to come to Grenada for part of her break. My mom said if Allison is going to Grenada, she is going along. Dad decided he better not stand in the way! So they changed their tickets and came for 5 days near to the end of December, spending the Caribbean Christmas season with us! Jared and I waited outside the airport, excited for my parents to meet their first grandchild. I knew it would be a special moment for them to meet something that had been such a task for me to bring into the world! The first meeting did not disappoint, I felt pleased as I passed him to my mom to hold! We did get to go out and do a few enjoyable things together but we took lots of time relaxing here at home. They were able to help with some cleaning and it was so very nice to have mom's cooking for a few days! We of course took time to pass Mr Cutie Pie around!
This week school has resumed so we are working at getting back into a routine. Jared spends about three days at school and his other time is spend doing his other responsibilities. It has been very exciting for him to train in his business administrator replacement the past few weeks. Brett and Terisa Eberly moved here about 2 months ago and Jared has wasted no time in passing off some of his work! At the beginning of the new year Jared officially passed off the responsibilities of business administrator and now he is only assisting Brett. It has made for work to train someone but we are hoping to see the benefits of that here in the coming weeks. We are hoping to have a bit more time to get out in the community, visiting local people now that Jared has a bit more time. We have spent a bit of the past few weeks talking about the future and praying for God's leading as Jared thinks about a job when we move back to the states this summer. Jared feels God leading him to teach school so we pray He will give direction as to which one of the many opportunities is the right one for him!
Recently someone asked Jared and I what God is teaching me or has taught me through Isaacs birth experience. I will close this blog with thoughts from each of us.
As long as I can remember I have been afraid of birth! The pain and unknowns of labor scare me tremendously. Throughout my pregnancy I often wondered how I would ever survive. I knew I would need Jared with me and the conditions to be as nice and comforting as possible. If someone would have given me a glimpse into my story I would have said No way! Not me! There is no way I can survive that. I'd have done anything in my power to make sure Jared could be with me through the experience and that conditions were as nice as possible. BUT God had a different story. I have lived through an experience that I thought I could never survive. And I seen God give strength for each moment I thought I could never handle. I have learned that because of Jesus I am much stronger then I ever thought I could be. And along with that I am reminded that God doesn't give me grace for the future. If i could have seem my birth experience before hand, I would have panicked but when I was in it, God gave me what i needed for each moment. I realize again that I cannot borrow grace for tomorrow, next week or next year! God will give what I need in each trial He brings me to.
Sherie asked me to share something that God has taught me through the experience of Isaac's birth. One thing is how God uses hard times to bring Him glory. Through this experience people have reached out to us and told us they were praying for us and Isaac. Some of these same people have told me before that they don't believe in God; now they are praying. A Grenadian friend who is in a new believers class told me it is amazing to see how God is answering prayers; his faith was encouraged through our journey. Isaac's doctor said she wished all her ICU babies had the prayers Isaac did; she could tell a difference. This experience also gave me opportunity to testify at the school Christmas program on how God worked on our behalf. I can clearly tell a closer relationship with several school parents since we went through this journey. This experience is one of those that we would not want to repeat in a 1,000 years, but yet what we learned and what God has shown us we wouldn't trade for anything. Albert Einstein said "A ship is always safe at the shore, but that is not what it is built for". God can use "hard voyages" and "storms" in our lives to bring Him glory in ways that would not be possible if we had stayed "at the shore".
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