Welcome Lydia!

    It was just a typical day. May 7, 2014 I finished teaching at school and went to my doctor's appointment. When we got there, I got my blood pressure and weight and went to the room to wait. The nurse shook her head when she looked at my blood pressure- 164/103. I had been having a little bit of high blood pressure, but I was on medicine for it and it hadn't been that bad. I knew something had to be wrong when it took the doctor about 20 minutes to come in to the room. It usually only took a few minutes. When she came in she said I had protein in my urine. I was officially pre-eclamptic and I needed to go straight to the hospital. I would most likely deliver in the next 48 hours.
   I was in shock. Thomas was in shock. I was only 29 weeks along. We weren't ready. This wasn't the plan. We were supposed to move to Texas June 2 and have our baby there. We already had a doctor's appointment down there. My thoughts raced and everyone's words became a blur. I was in a fog as I walked out of the doctor's office and got into the car. I held it in as long as I could. We went home and packed up and I was still being strong. Then we got back into the car to head to the hospital. I broke down. I wasn't ready for this. I couldn't have a baby yet! I was terrified she wasn't going to make it. I started preparing myself for the worst. I decided where I was going to bury my baby if the worst happened, I kept telling myself the Lord knew what he was doing.
   As we drove up to the hospital, the hospital sign had a picture of a baby and it said "Level III  NICU: down to 24 weeks gestation." After I saw that sign, I knew everything would be ok. It was no coincidence that right at the moment we passed the sign, that was what was up. I knew that no matter what, Heavenly Father was aware of me, my husband, and my baby. We would be ok.
   We checked in and I was hooked up to an IV, a blood pressure cuff, steroid shot to develop the baby's lungs, and monitors to monitor the baby's heartbeat. That night I only slept for about 45 minutes. I was so worried about my baby. I loved that I could hear her heartbeat the whole night. The next day, we met with a doctor who did an in depth ultra sound of my baby. Everything was good, but she was measuring small. This was most likely because of the high blood pressure. We then had a doctor from the NICU come talk to us. He told us all of the odds of survival, disabilities, etc. I felt much better after that. They switched me to a clear liquid diet in case I had to go for an emergency C-section. I sat in my hospital bed, putting on a brave face, but crumbling inside.
   May 9,2014 I had labs taken. My platelets had dropped and they were going to have to do the C-section that night.  I was told I would have an hour warning before the surgery. The nurse came in and said it was time to go... so much for the warning! I was terrified as I walked to the room where I was going to have my baby. I wasn't ready. I was shaking as I laid there and I was prepped for the C-section. In a blessing Thomas gave me, it said angels would be there to lift me up. I started whispering to the angels I knew would be there for me- Ava, Grandad, Ellie, etc. I felt comforted and the surgery began. 30 minutes later I heard a little whimper as my baby was pulled out of me and whisked to a corner to be worked on by the NICU team. I told the angels around me that Lydia needed them more and to go and comfort her. They have been by her bedside ever since.
   The veil is so thin when you have such a miracle baby. She is precious and doing great. There are times she smiles at nothing at all and I know it is because her friends from the other side are there with her. The plan of salvation is real. Angels are all around us. It is so hard to see my baby hooked up to everything and struggling to breathe and not being able to do anything to help her. I feel like I abandon her every time I leave the NICU, but I can't be there all day. I love my little girl and I am so glad she has so many friends on the other side watching out for her and so many friends on this side of the veil praying for her. My baby is so brave. She is so strong. She is a fighter. She is mine.