Skip to main content

My Ecosystem

Baby Maggie is doing well.  Nothing of concern at our ultrasound on Friday.  We go back again next week.  The doctors want us to continue with weekly appointments.  As the uterus grows, so do the risks for preterm labor.  We've made it to week 30!  The average length of gestation for a mom who has the surgery is 34 weeks.

I watched part of the Children's Miracle Network telethon yesterday.  Those stories make me tear up and put life in perspective!  We love Primary Children's Hospital and also Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston.  They are miracle workers!

I went to church today with the kids for the first time in...well, probably months.  Matt goes to church meetings early in the morning, so I had a friend come over and help us.  She did the girls hair, made waffles, washed dishes and got everything ready for church. Then we loaded up the wheel chairs and headed out.  

Sitting in the congregation reminded me of a devotional that Elder Marlin K. Jensen gave last month.  He talked about the Sacred Grove.  One of the lessons the Sacred Grove teaches is that trees are best grown in forests, not isolation.  The grove is an ecosystem of flowers, bushes, trees, fungi, birds, rodents and other creations.  They all rely on one another.  Elder Jensen says, "God's plan for our lives contemplates a similar interconnectedness and sociality.  We are to work out our salvation together, not in isolation."  I'm grateful to belong to an ecosystem (my ward) where much is given and much is expected.  It's what makes it a sacred place of growth and learning.

Photo
My brother, Brigham, took this picture of the Sacred Grove.

Comments

  1. Adam and MelisaJune 3, 2012 at 7:16 PM

    Anyone would LOVE to be part of your ecosystem! Glad things are going well...keep it up baby Maggie!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. EmilyJune 3, 2012 at 8:34 PM

    Tell your friend great job on the girls' hair. And Kate's testimony was awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AubsJune 3, 2012 at 8:59 PM

    Glad things are doing well. You & your family are still in our prayers. Camron is always coming home from your ward telling me how cool and amazing the ward is. I am glad they are there to take care of you. What a beautiful picture your borther took of the Scared Grove. It is a lovely place to visit.

    ReplyDelete
  4. CelesteJune 3, 2012 at 9:42 PM

    That must have been a wonderful devotional--it's a very lovely thought to ponder. Too often we feel alone (I know I do), but we're really not.

    I'm so glad that Maggie is doing well! I think of you often!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Laura SwensonJune 4, 2012 at 11:31 AM

    Go!, Maggie, Go!

    ReplyDelete
  6. KNJune 5, 2012 at 12:12 PM

    Thank you for sharing a gospel perspective that I've never thought of. I love when people share what they've learned through the Spirit.
    Yeah! 30 weeks!

    ReplyDelete
  7. KerryJune 6, 2012 at 7:20 AM

    Love your family with all my Heart!! What you are doing is challenging, but you all will come through this triumphant!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

At The Moment

Josie was reluctant to go to school today.  Friday was her "worstest day ever" of kindergarten.  According to her account, nobody would play with her at recess.  "I would ask different girls but they said they wanted to play with somebody else."  Then on the bus ride home, a girl kept pulling her pigtails, sang a mean song making fun of her and yanked her backpack.  I asked Josie how she reacted.  Her response, "I just sat in the corner."   When Matt heard the story he said, "Nobody puts Josie in a corner."  Just like Patrick Swayze.  I think it's easier to say goodbye to a daughter being wheeled into an operating room than watch her venture into the great unknown of kindergarten. Speaking of surgery, we are still in limbo for Maggie's surgery... ETV-CVF .  We are scheduled for this Thursday, but I'll meet with the neurosurgeon on Wednesday and reevaluate whether or not we should proceed.  We don't know what to do...
7 comments
Read more

Shunt Happens

On Thursday night, I couldn't get rid of a nagging concern.  Maggie's eyes were sunsetting.  This is where the  eyes turn downward with the white showing above.  It wasn't constant, and she wasn't showing the typical signs associated with brain swelling.  But the Spirit just kept working at me, and I decided to call the neurosurgeon at Primary Childrens.  He wasn't too concerned and told me to come on Friday for spina bifida clinic.  Once there, the doctor thought it was nothing because Maggie's fontanelle (soft spot) was still soft and of course Maggie wasn't sunsetting for him.  But I didn't want to go to Houston next week until I knew for sure she was okay.  So he ordered a head ultrasound.  Sure enough, the ultrasound showed significant swelling in the ventricles of  her brain.  A shunt is needed. Poor Maggie. I hate to see her go through another surgery.  When I'm at the docs office and get bad news,  I try to a...
17 comments
Read more

Flippidy Floo Flah Folic

Last time I was at Shriners, one of the doctors asked if I had checked my folic acid levels after having Davey.  I responded that I'd never heard of anything like that and had not checked them.  The doctor then proceeded to say she had spoken with a geneticist about our family...two kids with spina bifida.  The geneticist said that I most likely don't metabolize folic acid properly, so that's why my last two children have spina bifida.  In summary, they thought that if I had checked my folic acid levels after Davey, I would have seen that something was wrong and could have prevented Maggie from having spina bifida.  As I listened to these burning words, I thought, "Do you know what you're saying?"  I turned away, bounced with Maggie, and wiped my tears. I'm often asked about folic acid.  It's an integral part of spina bifida prevention , and I should lecture about how everyone should take their folic pills.   But I'm not in t...
20 comments
Read more