Saturday, 18 February 2012
Peace & encouragement
The last week God has given me a real peace about our baby. It actually came at Bible Study last Friday as I sat with Joshua on my lap, singing praises to God. A wave of peace & joy came over me & it's stayed. He has also given me many passages from His word that have encouraged me, as have the stories of how God is already using this situation to work in others lives.
Thursday, 9 February 2012
I'm thankful for...
Today I'm totally exhausted. Everything is an effort. Emotionally though I'm having a better day, & despite our circumstance there are many things I am thankful to the Lord for. I am thankful for:
* Joshua, & the blessing & delight he is
* A loving husband
* Family & friends that are loving & supporting
* That apart from the heart condition our baby is growing health & normal
* That it is possible to do something for the condition so our baby can have the chance to live.
* Joshua, & the blessing & delight he is
* A loving husband
* Family & friends that are loving & supporting
* That apart from the heart condition our baby is growing health & normal
* That it is possible to do something for the condition so our baby can have the chance to live.
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Happy Birthday
Today is my birthday, but I don't feel like celebrating. In fact every time I think about it I burst into tears. I've been crying all day. My heart is breaking & the one thing I wish for no one can give me. You can't buy it in a store, or wrap it up in pretty paper & ribbon.
If you have no idea what I'm on about read this first.
If you have no idea what I'm on about read this first.
Tuesday, 7 February 2012
Storm Hits
Sunday I told the story of Jesus calming the storm, little knowing that in just a couple of days I would be in the midst of my own storm...
Today has been one of those days that you never want to go through again. I woke with a headache, & it was a slightly earlier & more rushed morning so that we could get to the hospital for my appointment at 8am to have my 20wk scan. An hour & a half later we left having been told that there was a problem with the heart, & an appointment to have further scans with a cardiologist in Århus (2hr drive away) that afternoon.
The wind was starting to pick up & the waves began to swell.
By the time we left to drive to Århus my headache was reaching migraine status. It was a quiet drive there with both of a lost in our own thoughts. Then 2km from where we thought we had to go & 20min til our appointment, our car decided it didn't want to go any further & stopped right in the middle of the road. After pushing it to the side & consulting the GPS we decided to walk the rest of the way, which happened to be all up hill. Puffing & panting we arrived at the building we thought we needed to go to with 1min to spare, only to be told we were at the wrong hospital & that where we needed to go was another 4km up the road. Fortunately we were able to catch a bus there, but not knowing exactly where we had to go, we ended up hopping off approx. 1km from where we should have. Nevertheless we made it there ½hr late, red-faced & puffing.
After having the further scans, we were ushered into another room where we sat down with the head cardiologist, the head gynocologist & the head pediatric doctor & were informed that our baby had Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, a very serious & rare heart condition. Basically the left side of the heart had not developed & therefore couldn't function. This is the side that pumps oxygenated blood around the body. While in the womb, all is ok & there is no problem, development will continue as normal. However once born, without intervention, he/she will only survive a very short time (hours - days).
This means once born our little baby will require immediate medical attention & then have to undergo 3 operations. The first of these is the most major & will occur at approx. 4 days old, with a 50% survival rate. The second will be performed at around 3mths & the last at around 4 years of age. These surgeries are a life-prolonging intervention, not a cure, & there is a big possibility of problems further down the track & eventually perhap the need for a transplant.
The storm had reached hurricane proportions.
Devastated & in shock, we left the hospital & headed back to where we had left the car to work out how we were going to get home again. Surprisingly when we got to the car & turned the key it roared to life & we were able to drive home. The drive home was full of tears & talking, praying, silent thinking & more tears. Exhausted we fell into bed, but there was little sleep to be had as the storm still raged.
Today has been one of those days that you never want to go through again. I woke with a headache, & it was a slightly earlier & more rushed morning so that we could get to the hospital for my appointment at 8am to have my 20wk scan. An hour & a half later we left having been told that there was a problem with the heart, & an appointment to have further scans with a cardiologist in Århus (2hr drive away) that afternoon.
The wind was starting to pick up & the waves began to swell.
By the time we left to drive to Århus my headache was reaching migraine status. It was a quiet drive there with both of a lost in our own thoughts. Then 2km from where we thought we had to go & 20min til our appointment, our car decided it didn't want to go any further & stopped right in the middle of the road. After pushing it to the side & consulting the GPS we decided to walk the rest of the way, which happened to be all up hill. Puffing & panting we arrived at the building we thought we needed to go to with 1min to spare, only to be told we were at the wrong hospital & that where we needed to go was another 4km up the road. Fortunately we were able to catch a bus there, but not knowing exactly where we had to go, we ended up hopping off approx. 1km from where we should have. Nevertheless we made it there ½hr late, red-faced & puffing.
After having the further scans, we were ushered into another room where we sat down with the head cardiologist, the head gynocologist & the head pediatric doctor & were informed that our baby had Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, a very serious & rare heart condition. Basically the left side of the heart had not developed & therefore couldn't function. This is the side that pumps oxygenated blood around the body. While in the womb, all is ok & there is no problem, development will continue as normal. However once born, without intervention, he/she will only survive a very short time (hours - days).
The storm had reached hurricane proportions.
Devastated & in shock, we left the hospital & headed back to where we had left the car to work out how we were going to get home again. Surprisingly when we got to the car & turned the key it roared to life & we were able to drive home. The drive home was full of tears & talking, praying, silent thinking & more tears. Exhausted we fell into bed, but there was little sleep to be had as the storm still raged.
Tuesday, 27 December 2011
Christmas
Christmas for us this year was in someways a quite quiet one. With most of Tom's family away, it was just us & Pia, plus an elderly couple who are old friends of the family. This also meant that I had my first experience of being the host this Christmas. We still upheld the tradition of going out after breakfast to cut the Christmas tree, then home for lunch, followed by decorating the tree, cake & coffee, dinner & presents.
Dinner was a traditional Danish Christmas dinner with a few little "aussie" twists. We had roast duck with stuffing (not prunes like is tradional), brown sauce, red cabbage, boiled potatoes & brown (caramel) potatoes. There was also the traditional ris a'lamanda with cherry sauce.
Dinner was a traditional Danish Christmas dinner with a few little "aussie" twists. We had roast duck with stuffing (not prunes like is tradional), brown sauce, red cabbage, boiled potatoes & brown (caramel) potatoes. There was also the traditional ris a'lamanda with cherry sauce.
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