Truly-- Part 4

     Our month and a half in Wisconsin with my family was hard.  It was great that I could rest and let my mom take care of the kids, but the time seemed to drag by. It was hard for Stephen and I to only talk on the phone.  It was hard to sit by and let others do all the work while I just reclined on the couch or bed.  I felt the best when I could get up and walk around, so I did occasionally, despite the warnings we had read.  I still was not under the care of a doctor yet which made me a little nervous at times. They had scheduled me to see one in Iowa City, so we would know then. 
    


Sidney, 5, Charity, 3, Harmony, 2, and Andrew, 1.



          It was a beautiful fall that year.  The weather stayed very warm and sunny long past September.  I think even Halloween was unusually warm.  The kids enjoyed being able to play outside, which in turn helped my mom with having young children in the house again.

     We had our next appointment in Iowa City for the amniocentesis.  Stephen met my mom and I there.  We made our way to the hospital and that all too familiar waiting room.  Amniocentesis is just a test where they draw off some of the amniotic fluid and test it to detect chromosomal abnormalities.  The results were inconclusive and really gave no indication as to what had caused these problems.  We also had our first appointment with the new doctor.  The hospital at Iowa City is a university hospital and therefore, is filled with interns who are learning and observing. However, we were assigned to the "Fellows" of the hospital-- the doctors who were experienced and on staff permanently.  The first thing that the doctor mentioned was concern for my condition due to my "advanced maternal age".  Good grief, I was only 36!  He made me feel like an old lady!  We discussed options for the birth.  We were told that if the pregnancy remained viable then they would want to deliver the baby at approximately 36 weeks which would bring us to early January for the delivery.  It seemed like a very long way off.  The doctor cautioned about taking it easy and resting as much as possible.  We scheduled another appointment and another ultra sound in a few weeks and said our goodbyes.

     That month seems almost like a blur.  My mom and I did a lot of reading about genetic defects and also about placenta previa.  We were both of the mindset that if there were anything nutrition-wise that could be done to improve conditions, then we would do it.  Nothing we read seemed to help.  This was the time that we just had to trust that the doctors knew what was best.  We did know that I needed to have my blood in the best condition when the time came for surgery.  So, we started a juicing regimen. Every morning my faithful and hard working mom would get up and start cutting up carrots, apple, kale or spinach and beets to juice for me.  Yes, it was pretty nasty, but there was a purpose, so I kept to it.  I had also read that cayenne pepper is a great blood builder, so I started taking it by the capsule. Anything to help strengthen my blood and prepare it for major surgery would help.
     One particular memory that sticks out in my mind took place in church.  My dad was the pastor of a new group of people who had just established their church and were working on the constitution and by-laws.  In Sunday school, my dad would go over the basic tenets and give Biblical background and reasoning for each of them.  The Sunday that is so vivid in my memory was the morning that they were covering the sanctity of life and the importance of life in the womb.  It cemented our decision to let the baby live.   Truly was a little life inside of me, and to end that life for any reason would be wrong.   I have implied that our faith never waivered during this time, but there were many times of doubt and uncertainty.  In the face of death, you often question even the most basic principles that you have stood firm on for so many years  We are thankful that the Lord continually reiterated His truth to us and preserved us from making a wrong decision.
     Our next doctor's appointment came. We were scheduled for another ultra sound to check how things were going and we were also to meet with the neonatal doctor.  The ultra sound showed no changes, which was good and we received some good news, the doctor we met with told us that they really don't recommend complete bed rest anymore.  The risks of getting up and moving around were less than the risk of just letting your muscles become useless.  Stephen was thrilled.  He thought that if we could find people to help me at home, then we could return to a somewhat "normal" life again. 
     After meeting with the  OB doctor, we met with the doctor in charge of the neonatal department (neonatal referring to babies that are born prematurely). He basically told us about the care that they provide for premature babies and prepared us for what things may be like.  Not knowing Truly's condition, we couldn't know ahead of time how long she would have to be cared for, but knowing what to expect helped us.  It also put our minds at ease to meet this man.  He was very caring and understanding and expressed such great concern for me and the baby that we were encouraged by what we had come to learn.  No matter what her condition, we knew that she would receive the best care at this hospital.
    We decided to go home to Missouri.  Stephen came and got us.  His mom had rallied the ladies at our church and had a list of those who would be willing to care for the kids and help me around the house.  We came home to an immaculate home.  Ladies had come and done fall cleaning for us.  I was embarrassed to see that they even cleaned the hidden places that I had left "until after the baby is born" or "until he/she is sleeping through the night". There were even flowers planted outside my back door.  Men had come and helped Stephen move Andrew's crib downstairs and all the kid's dressers downstairs as well, so I  didn't have to go upstairs.
   The first day home, my mother-in-law came over and we started working on getting the kids' winter clothes out.  Another lady showed up with lunch and offered to start ironing all the clothes that had been stored away. Wow, you can get a lot done in a day with 3 adults working!  We also entered a new phase in our family life. I was usually the one to tuck the kids into bed every night, but since I wasn't supposed to use the stairs, Stephen took over.  There were often nights where I heard the kids jumping on the beds with Stephen  before they settled down to pray and sleep! Happy memories.
     Our next doctors appointment was a little different.  We were being sent for a consultation with the doctors who would be doing my surgery.  Due to the delicate nature of the operation, we would be meeting in the oncology department.  They had a special OB division of that department. I had no clue what oncology meant, but got a little scared when we arrived at the waiting room.  No longer a sunny, happy waiting room full of mommys-to-be.  We were in the cancer ward.  The waiting room was dark and sullen.  Very quiet, with no televisions on. Many people were wearing bandannas or hats on their bald heads. Some patients looked very ill, others were crying.  Some gave me odd looks as they glanced at my very bulging belly.  We didn't belong here.  I think just seeing that waiting room gave us a glimpse of how dangerous this situation was.
     We were sent to a consultation room where we were to meet the doctor assigned to us,  Doctor Buekers.  The nurse had also given me a list of all the doctors that were on staff.  They worked on rotation, so when the surgery was officially scheduled, the one on duty that day would perform it.  I looked down the list of names and one unusual one popped out at me: Dr. Goodheart.  I pointed it out to Stephen and joked that he sounded like a good doctor.  We would soon come to know how true those words were.