Another Harrison Baby in Heaven

Experiencing God's Kindness in the Midst of a Painful Time - (Warning...somewhat graphic details are involved, so read on if you are still interested...) On August 5th at 1 pm, we were thrilled to see our precious little baby healthy; heart beating 175 beats/min which is right on target; and watching his/her legs and arms moving playfully around.  Our doctor was happy to see our baby healthy too, asked if we had any questions, and sent us on our way with the cute ultrasound pics of our little one.  Little did we know the events that were to unfold in the next 36 hours...  That evening after dinner I started feeling a little strange.  So, I took a Tums in hopes that it was just indigestion issues.  Later that night I started having light spotting and began to be concerned.  Wes and I discussed this and decided time would tell if it was nothing or something depending on if this progressed or not.  We prayed together and gave our concerns to the Lord, knowing that the future of our little one was in His sovereign control. 

     In the morning I felt better physically. The spotting was still there but had not progressed, so we were encouraged that it was probably just a normal part of pregnancy.  The spotting continued throughout the day and at 5 pm the spotting turned to bleeding and clotting.  I now knew the Lord was taking (or already had) our little one home to Him.  I started crying and precious Noah thought I was laughing, so he started laughing and then came to me to sit in my lap and snuggled a bit, which was a tender and encouraging moment for me.  I called Wes at work, and we are grateful he was able to come home immediately.  We continued to see the Lord kindly work out all the details for us:

• One of our neighbors (I tutor their girls) came over to watch Noah - our situation would have been a lot more challenging/miserable if Noah had been with us for multiple reasons since we didn't get home until 11:30 pm.
• We called our OB doctor and followed her advice to go to the ER - it would have been awful to go through what we did at home by ourselves and would have been a lot more difficult on me physically.
• I received strong medical support and care over the next several hours such as IV, ultrasound, need for forceps at times, etc. - Wes and I would not have had the knowledge or resources needed to care for me in this way at home.
• The Lord helped my body to physically pass our baby and other major parts in the matter of a few hours and blessed us with being able to go through some major grieving of the loss of our little one together in the ER- we have heard of other miscarriages that have been a long, drawn out process (even taking a month at times) and therefore making the grieving process more difficult too.
• Comforting us with His Word...various passages came to mind and are continuing to as we process... Job 1:20-22 - Worshiping the Lord when He gives or takes away; Isaiah 55:8-9 - God's ways and thoughts are higher than ours; Proverbs 3:5-6 - Trusting God and not leaning on our own understanding; Isaiah 26:3-4 - God keeping us in perfect peace as we trust in Him; Philippians 4:11-13 - Being content and praising God for our precious miracle and gift of Noah.

While at the ER, I basically went through a mini-labor consisting of contractions and all.  It was a painful time physically and emotionally, and we praise God for His strength, Him giving us a strong awareness of His presence, and His tender care through it all.  He already has been showing us ways that He is working this loss for good:

• Growing Wes and me in our faith and trust in Him.
• Giving us opportunities to witness in different ways to the doctor, nurses, and other staff.
• Encouraing us through loved ones who have been spurred on to grow in their relationships with Christ through our trial.
• Allowing us to share about God's goodness even in hard times with our neighbor (who watched Noah).
• Giving Wes an opportunity to talk with a mormon at Brakes Plus about God and trusting Him through our miscarriage since this woman overheard Wes talking on the phone with his brother about what happened and how God helped us through it.
• I'm sure God has even more greater plans and purposes that we are not aware of!  God knows best, and we trust in His perfect plans.

What's next...I am doing well recovering, for which I thank the Lord!  We will go in to see my OB doctor this coming week to make sure my body cleansed everything out.  We will also talk with her to see how to proceed in helping my body heal and timing for seeking to have another little one.  The ER doctor said he could not pinpoint a specific reason I miscarried.  Since the creation of life is truly a miracle of the Lord, there are many different factors that may have not been right.  God has designed our bodies to recognize when something is wrong and take care of it naturally.  So, we are hopeful that the Lord will bless us with a healthy pregnancy and baby in the future.  We'll see what He has in store.  Please join us in praising God that we have 2 children in heaven with Him and in praying for His will for growing our family since we still desire more children.