Thankful

Well, we had a bit of a scare yesterday with J.D. Everything thankfully is ok. But it was a strange day. Yesterday morning, I mentioned to Jim that I hadn't felt J.D. move very much. He usually kicks around a lot in the morning, some in the afternoon, and a lot at night. Throughout every day, though, I feel random movements and kicks. Not yesterday. I pushed on him around 10 am, and finally got him to kick me back once.

Jim left yesterday afternoon to go to a meeting and dinner at ACU in Abilene. Anna Lee and I were planning on having a fun evening together. Around 4:30, I got very concerned that I hadn't felt J.D. move at all since that one kick at 10:00. So I pushed on him, went to lie down, drank something, pushed on him some more, etc. Nothing. It was very strange.

I called my doctor, who I expected to say, "Go try doing this," or "Wait a while and see if he is just asleep," but she didn't say that. She was very serious on the phone, and said that if I really hadn't felt him move except that one time all day, I needed to go straight to Labor and Delivery immediately. Well, needless to say, I freaked out. I tried calling a million people, and no one would answer their phones. My sweet friend Abbe called me right back, and was exactly what I needed. She came immediately over to take care of Anna Lee for me while I went to the hospital...crying all the way. I was so scared that they were not going to find a heartbeat.

My wonderful sister, Kasey, met me at the hospital (after she had had a really long day at a competition with her kids from school), and I was trying really hard to hold it together. They put a monitor on my belly and soon were able to find a heartbeat. I cannot explain the joy I felt at that moment. J.D. immediately started hiccupping. I LOVED it. Apparently all he needed to move around yesterday was for me to squirt some of that cold gel on my tummy. If I had only known.

Yesterday made me thankful for so many things. Most obvious, I am thankful for our sweet baby boy. I think yesterday made everything seem a bit more real...that we are going to have a new little person with us in just 8 weeks! I am thankful for his health, for his life, and for every little movement I feel him make now. I was thankful that I had a sweet husband who was willing to climb back in the car after just arriving to Abilene, and drive a million miles an hour to come home to me, whether something was wrong or not. He knew I needed him. I was also thankful for the overwhelming help I got yesterday from friends and family. By the time I got home from the hospital, Anna Lee had gotten to play with our sweet next door neighbor and her two kids, my wonderful friend Abbe and her baby Avery, my sister's boyfriend Justin, who we love so much, and her grandparents, who had driven all the way here to help me. In addition, I didn't have to be alone at the hospital. Since Jim was out of town, Kasey came to be with me...good news or bad. While I was there, I got texts from Jim's family that they were all praying for J.D.

We are so blessed. And yesterday made me remember that. I couldn't stop saying prayers of thanksgiving as I went to sleep yesterday. Thank you, Lord, for all you have given us.