“Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise”

James 5:13

Since the surgery was behind us and everything had gone well, Andrew and I were looking forward to coasting until Kaydence was born. We started talking to our hosts about things to do in the area and were starting to plan day adventures to let us get familiar with our new home. However God had different plans.

Both Saturday and Sunday were spent with our host family and their extended family. They had come to visit for the weekend to celebrate birthdays. We ate good food, played games, enjoyed excellent conversations, and took a walk along the Ohio river. To be honest, they walked along the river and I hung out on the swings. It was a truly uplifting weekend. This was the first time since we started this adventure where I felt happy and hopeful.

We arrived at the hospital on Monday to receive our next infusion. But the doctor overseeing our care had cancelled it because she did not believe I would need additional fluid. The fluid levels on the previous Friday were high but they forgot to call us to let us know about the cancellation. We were not too upset about the change in plan. We headed to Arbys to get lunch because Kaydence really loved their curly fries and gyros. Then we drove to Target to gather some much needed supplies for ourselves and our hostess.

Since I was on modified bed rest, Andrew pulled the car up to the front door and drove out one of the motorized carts for disabled shoppers. So I got to enjoy scooting around Target without putting my surgery recovery at risk. The motorized cart made this trip a comedic one to say the least. I was just terrible at navigating it around. Although I never hit something, I was close a couple of times. We both enjoyed quite a few good laughs out of it. Once we had gathered our supplies, Andrew and I headed back to the house to get some much needed rest.

Once we got to the house, I felt something wet in my underpants and realized I had leaked. Trying not to panic, Andrew and I called our doctor’s office, but no one picked up. I felt more leaking happening so I told Andrew we needed to get to the emergency room right away. All the happiness I had been feeling disappeared. I was convinced this is how we were going to lose Kaydence. As we were driving to the emergency room, the doctor’s office returned our call. They said to not go to the emergency room but to the obstetrician triage floor instead. The floor where babies are delivered. We arrived and Andrew hurriedly grabbed a wheelchair and rushed us up to the floor. 

We arrived at the triage, they were expecting us and we were admitted to a room right away. A doctor came in and started the usual tests to confirm if a leak had actually occurred. However because of Kaydence’s condition those tests couldn’t work as intended. Even without a leak she will have lower than average fluid unless we just had an infusion. The saline solution being used to replace the missing amniotic fluid cannot fern under a microscope. Thankfully one of the doctor’s overseeing our amnioinfusions arrived and stated the best way to determine a leak would be to: insert a tampon, complete an infusion mixed with blue dye, and then wait thirty minutes to see if the blue dye leaked out onto the tampon. Much to our dread, we waited for the longest thirty minutes and removed a blue tampon. My doctor came in and explained I did indeed have a leak and would need to be admitted to the hospital. My heart sank and I held back the tears that were on the verge of breaking free because this was not how the story was supposed to end. As they finished the admission process and wheeled me to my room, I decided no matter what happened I would honor God with my thoughts and actions during this hospital admission.

Once in my new room, my doctor arrived at bedside and gave us hope. She had consulted with the other doctor over the infusion program and they did have a prior case where a leak occurred. But they gave her womb rest and it resealed. Therefore for the rest of the week, I would receive no infusions. I would stay in the hospital where they would monitor me for the onset of early labor. If I went into labor, they would attempt to stop the contractions and try to keep Kaydence growing as long as possible as per our wishes. We would try another dye test after a week and hopefully see no blue coloring.

I prayed God would prevent me from going into labor and to reseal my womb. I prayed He would allow us to continue the infusions.

The rest of the week was painfully slow. It almost felt like time had stopped moving altogether. It was tough and exhausting, but I worked every day to find ways to honor God, even though I just wanted to quit.