Colliding Miracles

There are times when miracles occur in your life and they are special to just you or to the people involved. They are experiences that you reflect on and share when they are applicable to others and that is pretty much it. There are other times when you feel like you are accountable to tell of experiences that have so obviously been divinely guided. These miracles are the kind that I feel accountable to share with the birth of Ella and the death of my father-in-law.

It all started about a year ago when we found out we were pregnant with our fourth child. At about 7 weeks of pregnancy I started bleeding and I thought I was going to have another miscarriage. I was okay with a miscarriage and knew that sometimes these things just don’t work out. We went to our doctor who sent us to get an ultrasound to see how things were progressing. I honestly thought we would not see a baby and the pregnancy would be over, because after all, I’d had three kids and a miscarriage, so I knew everything there was to know about my body right? Haha.

We did see a heartbeat and all of the sudden it was not okay to have a miscarriage. It was easier to think of a miscarriage when I hadn't seen a struggling little baby. They also saw that there was a possibility that the sac was tearing away from the lining and told us we had a 50/50 chance of keeping this pregnancy. We prayed and hoped that this little baby could continue growing and come to us. At about 13 weeks the bleeding stopped and the pregnancy continued as usual. I did have a few fainting issues along the way that concerned my doctor, but the baby was fine.

Then everything got crazy on Dec 28^th. As mentioned in previous posts, Brian was taking his grandma to the airport that morning and was on his way home when I frantically called him because I started bleeding a lot more. He was almost home when I called him. I laid down on the ground and stayed on the phone with the 911 operator. Knowing that we had some tearing issues and bleeding issues with this pregnancy already I was being very cautious. I also thought of a friend of mine who had lost her baby and almost lost her life because of a torn placenta.

Waiting for my husband and for the EMTs to arrive I felt very calm. This was one of those experiences where I felt I wasn’t alone. I felt I had people around me who were helping and were concerned for me and my family.

After a few tests at the hospital they couldn’t really see what was going on. They thought I was dilating early and we were prepped to have an early baby. They put me on bed rest for the next several weeks and Brian was vigilant in making me 'take it easy.' Looking back on it now, we know my placenta was tearing away from the lining and I’m very glad Brian made me do less than I thought I was capable of. How many times will it take me to learn to listen to my husband.

When I made it to 36 weeks, we were optimistic that Ella was fine and I could do more. Also at this time we were spending a lot of time at hospitals and recovery centers with Brian’s dad. About a week into the new year his situation got drastically worse. He had emergency brain surgery early in the month, and then it progressed to one of his lungs collapsing, having radiation on the tumors in his brain, pneumonia, and insulin problems that kept him in the hospital.

One Sunday a few weeks back we decided to take the kids up to the Huntsman Cancer Hospital to visit. He was still coherent and doing pretty well considering everything wrong with his cancer ridden body. While we were there Mike and Marci’s stake president and counselor came to give Mike a blessing. Brian was able to stand in the circle for the blessing where the stake president pronounced him clean and ready to meet his Heavenly Father. At Mike’s funeral we heard from the stake president and he said that that morning he was prompted by the Holy Ghost to go visit Mike Jones, because this would be the last time he would see him in mortality. I’m so glad we were there for that moment and that our kids were there for that also. After the blessing Mike was crying and thanking the men for their diligent service.

The Friday after that happened Mike was given 2-10 days to live. My poor mother-in-law was mad and told the doctors they said they would do radiation on his chest. She was trying to get them to do more…to do anything to help her husband get better. He calmly told her that if he made it 10 days they would continue treatment on him, but he was too weak to do much more at that time.

He went to another care center and was there for a few days when my sister in law decided we should do whatever we could to let him spend his final days at home. This was going to mean that everyone take their turn spending the night to look after their dad. On Tuesday, February 8^th, he was brought home and set up on a hospital bed in his family room.

As he was being wheeled into his home, I was very close to being wheeled in for surgery.

Brian and I had gone into the hospital the night before and I was expected to have Ella early in the morning after a quick labor. I was stuck at 8 centimeters for 6 hours of my 14 hour labor. Early in the morning Annette Pully came in to tell me she was my new nurse. Annette Pully and her husband used to double date with my mom and dad in high school. I probably met her a few times growing up, but I loved having someone there for me who knew my parents so well. It was also great to hear fun stories about my mom and dad as she reminisced.

I started losing a lot of blood at about 8 in the morning. They weren’t terribly worried because the baby was just fine and I was doing well and they anticipated that I would get to a 10 any minute. However after 3 more hours went by they were getting concerned. Annette had an idea to help get me to dilate. Her and Dr Willis decided they would try it and after an hour of changing my position on the bed, they decided they couldn’t let me labor any more. I was losing too much blood and I was going to get a c section.

I remember feeling very calm and again I felt like I was very much not alone. I was very tired and I kept falling asleep. I thought it was because I had been up all night, but I think it was also because I had lost so much blood.

They prepped me for a c section. Everything was ready for me to be wheeled out. My doctor came in and decided to check me one last time, even though nothing had changed in 6 hours. He was shocked to find I was at a 10 and I was ready to push. They hurried and got everything re-ready for a normal delivery and Ella was out 5 minutes later.

They cleaned me up and Doctor Willis told Brian and Annette to come look at the placenta. They could see where it had been ripped away and had given me so many problems. Everyone in the delivery room kept commenting on how the delivery had been such a miracle, from the lame placenta, to the lack of a sack of water, to how easy the delivery turned out to be.

They took me to my room where I slept while they took Ella to get washed out or something because she had swallowed a bunch of blood because of how the delivery went. I slept for awhile and Brian brought the kids to see me and Ella and then Brian got a call from his brother-in-law saying that they thought his dad would die soon and to come up.

Brian was gone for the rest of the night spending time with his family around his dad’s bedside. The next day Brian had talked to Mike and Marci’s amazing neighbor, Brother Larsen and they decided to give his dad a blessing to release him.

I got an okay to leave the hospital for a few hours to be there with Brian and with our family for this experience. When I got there everyone was excited to hear about Ella. Mike tried to sit up and say something, but he just moaned really loud and Marci told us to be quiet because she thought we were upsetting him. That may have been the case, but part of me wants to believe that he was excited for our new baby and was glad I could be there with the rest of his family. That was a very sweet moan to me, even if that is all he could do with his physically weak body.

That night I was back at the hospital and Brian went back to be with his dad. It was hard for me to have Brian gone. I’m a clingy wife and I love being around him, but there was no way I could make him feel like he needed to be with me more that night than with his dad. But I was not left alone. As funny as it sounds, I got on facebook and people started chatting to me who I normally don’t chat with, and my nurse that night was my neighbor who is such a sweet lady.

That night at 3 in the morning Brian’s dad passed away. He passed away after Brian had told him we would be okay and it was okay to let go and that he was needed on the other side. It was then when Brian told him of his need in heaven that he went. He also waited until his wife was out of the room. Both of these things are so typical of his character. He would do anything to protect his wife from any hurt and he would do anything for anyone who needed him. I’m so glad Brian was there to spend his last moments with his dad.

The next morning I went home and we had a few days until the funeral. I recovered SO well. I was able to leave the hospital and I didn’t have to get a transfusion like they thought I would have to have. I was able to be there one last time with Mike and I was physically just fine to have Brian gone while I recovered in the hospital. I was totally fine at the viewing and at the funeral. I felt better than I had in months! It wasn’t until Sunday morning, the day after the funeral that I started to feel like I had just had a baby.

I am so grateful for the series of miracles we experienced with these two passings from the veil. One coming and one leaving. I am also so glad for the lesson of the imperfect placenta. The placenta was pretty crappy and had a lot of problems, but it somehow did its job for 9 months and brought us a beautiful baby. And while I know Mike was not perfect, he was able to return to his Father perfect and he left behind a beautiful life and beautiful family.

There is no doubt in my mind that these miracles occurred because of the prayers and fasting of our family, friends, members of our ward, and members of Mike and Marci’s ward. I am in awe of how aware our Heavenly Father is of our situation and how quick He is to lead and guide us through these experiences.