Miracle

Wanna know what kind of God we serve? The one who puts the right people in the right place at the right time to do His work here on earth. The one who makes things we don't want happen so that He can help us anyway. The one who listens to His people when they need help, even when they are too worried to pray themselves. I'll tell you more about circumstances, coincidences, so forth, tomorrow, but right now here is what He did for us yesterday, straight from an email I wrote to a friend. Please don't feel like you're second-rate because you aren't reading your own email. This mama has not slept more than two straight hours in the last 38 or 40, and she's about ready to conk out right now.

Thank you. I am home from Chattanooga!

Lydia is doing really well. God is soooooooooo good. We had a real miracle. When the doctor did the c-section yesterday, things went pretty well until he lifted the uterus to close the incision. Lydia had some major bleeding. There is a huge blood flow to that area of the body in all pregnant women. When those blood vessels started to bleed, there was almost no stopping them. Her obstetrician worked on her until he realized there was more than he could handle, and he called in his senior partner who also worked on her at the same time. She was in the delivery room for at least three and a half hours. At the end of that time, they had her pretty much stabilized, minus one ovary and one Fallopian tube--but thank God, that was all they had to take. She had two units of whole blood and a unit of plasma (I believe that was what I counted) yesterday. That seemed to be enough. They took her back to the same room she had been in before the surgery, one step down from the recovery room but not as good as regular mother/baby room. She pretty much had the ward to herself that night--she had her own private nurse until around 2 or so, when a woman came in, in labor. She was in another room, so everything was okay there. A second nurse covered Lydia while her nurse was in with the other patient, and she was very nice and helpful. Lydia had great nurses.

She was not in a lot of pain. Fortunately, she has a very high pain threshold, so she was able to manage things pretty well until about 12:00, when she finally decided that she wanted the morphine pump they had on orders for her. She got that around 1 or so, and from then on, she slept well, except when the nurses would come in, and seemed rested this morning. They started letting her have clear liquids around 4 or so, when they were pretty sure they wouldn't have to take her back in to the OR.

Cora Sophia, our new granddaughter, is a trooper. She weighed 7 lbs 3 oz, and is too beautiful to believe. We are fairly sure she will have curly hair. Right now it is a really light brown, which was the way Ann's was when she was first born. David was standing outside the nursery yesterday watching the nurses take care of Cora. There was a family group a few babies down from her, admiring their new baby. David heard the man say, "I'm going over there to look at the pretty baby for a while" and headed straight for Cora.

Cora slept in the nursery last night, but is rooming in with Mommy and Daddy now. She is feeding well, sleeping well, pretty easy to comfort when she cries. Geron and I found out pretty quickly that she likes to be "danced" with. You just hold her in the crook of your arm and do a two-step with her. She settles right down. She just takes everything in. You can see her for yourself here: http://thebrownbabyblog.blogspot.com/

Back to Lydia--Geron gave us an update on her just as we got to the Horse Park exit here in Georgetown. She is in that regular mother/baby room now, has been up to the potty already, has walked from her room to the nursery and back, even got into a chair by herself. If you have had abdominal surgery, you can appreciate all those things. If you haven't, find someone who has. Her "friend", morphine pump, was discontinued before she left the labor/delivery area, also her "friends", her compression boots. Cora is in the room with them and is feeding well, still--she had been at it for 15 minutes when Geron called. I hope she is finished by now. Our only concerns now? A slight fever on Lydia's part, which they are already treating, and a row of blisters across Lydia's lower back. The nursing staff seems to think the blisters are from the waterproof pad she was lying on--now that is gone, so the blisters should clear up soon. She may go home as early as Sunday.

Thank you, Jesus, and thank you friends for your prayers. Love to all, and God bless.