Here is the story of my sweet angel Elise! She was definitely a surprise also! We had just sold our house and moved into a TINY two bedroom apartment. We weren't sure what God had in store for us, and what an amazing story it turned out to be! This is going to be long, so bear with me!
We were hoping this pregnancy wouldn't be nearly as hard. It started out bad, but luckily, the all day "morning" sickness became somewhat tolerable. It was scary, because we didn't have insurance and weren't exactly sure what to do. It wasn't something we planned, but God definitely did! I called my Dr. as soon as we knew, and he was immediately willing to help out where he could.
Our pastor called Ramon and I in to talk, and he told us the church wanted to help pay for EVERYTHING- All the Dr bills, and the entire pregnancy. Meaning, visits, inevitable hospital stays, and anything we needed! We were reluctant at first, but he said that if we didn't let the church do this, we would be preventing a blessing from God.
So, it started. I needed a shot of Rhogam almost immediately due to some bleeding. Rhogam is a shot given to RH negative pregnant women to help stop hemolytic disease of the newborn. Obviously, the shot and actually going to the Dr cost money..which we didn't have. I called Dennis (our pastor), I was told to go to the Dr, and it was taken care of! What a wonderful feeling to have a caring, loving church family. We don't even have the words to explain how we felt. Everyone was touched, all of the staff in our Dr.'s office, family, friends, no one could understand why a church would take on such responsibility. But, God knew!
Needless to say, I ended up on bed rest. The entire pregnancy was so humbling, we had to rely on everyone, including the wonderful teenage girls that were taking care of me EVERYDAY! Yes, every morning Sarah, Emily or Hannah were dropped off at my apartment to take care of Ethan and to do all the things I couldn't do. This was very hard for me to accept, and on occasion, the girls were "telling" on me if I was getting out of bed!
Finally, I had to go to the Dr because of my blood pressure. I knew it was bad, because of the headaches, and nothing was helping. I went to see the nurse, she took my blood pressure, then took it again, and then.. took it again! She brought me to a room and made me lay down. Dr. K walked in and said he was admitting me! WHAT! NO! I was so upset! But, I knew it had to be done. Thankfully, I was only there a few days. The Dr.'s got my blood pressure under control and sent me home! I was thrilled, and had hope that I would make it through the entire pregnancy. All of the nurses knew me and Ramon because of being there with Ethan. (It was neat during staff change to see who would be next!) We were able to tell our story about the church and what God was doing. They were all enthralled, and would just sit and talk to us, because they wanted to know more! After we got home, I started to worry about the huge bill that the church would get. Then, the Dr called me and informed me that the ENTIRE bill was taken care of! He said that he talked to the staff and not to worry about a thing! WHOA! OK, so God had this thing under control!
Within a couple weeks, it was time for another (scheduled) Dr. visit. I had been praying about this baby, along with everyone else at church. Something just didn't feel right to me. After praying, I went to the Dr visit. The Dr said he thought everything looked good, and that I could probably make it another week. However, I told him we shouldn't wait any longer, and I felt like I should have her quickly. He walked out of the room, then came back in and said "Go to the hospital, and I will meet you there." I said, "Right now?!" So, off we went, I stopped by the house to tell the girls and give Ethan a kiss. I grabbed my bag (that had been packed) and headed off. I made all the phone calls I could think of at that crazy moment.
At the hospital we were waiting, and waiting.......and waiting! Finally, I was given the spinal and the C-Section began. It was awful, and I was begging them to put me to sleep! But then, there she was, this itsy bitsy little baby! The Dr hurriedly showed her to me over the curtain. What a miracle! The Dr. said "OH MY GOSH!" I didn't know what he was talking about, scared, I asked what was going on. He said the placenta looked like a "war zone," and "if we waited a DAY longer, Elise wouldn't have made it!" That was a life changing moment for me. We thank God for His grace, and for the Dr's that actually listened to me.
We also wouldn't have the medical care we needed without our church family. We worship such a big God, and we saw lives touched by Him through Elise. My children really know how to make an entrance into this crazy world! There are so many other factors to this story, but I will save those for another blog! Thank you, God, for showing us Your glory! We are blessed to have Elise, she is a precious/feisty little thing! Elise Marie Medina 4-30-07 2lbs, 12oz 15in long!
