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

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

    ReplyDelete
  3. 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. 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. 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
  6. 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

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 act brave and wait until the car r

Curve Ball

Maggie is out of surgery. Things did not go as planned. As the doctor put it, "she threw us for several curve balls." We could not do the ETV. Once in her brain, he discovered that it would be too risky to proceed because of her anatomy. From what we remember, her pituitary was too close to an artery. As they were pulling out, a blood vessel burst. They had to get that bleeding under control before sewing up that side of her head and cutting open the opposite side for a shunt. That's when the neurosurgeon called us to tell us the disappointing news that the ETV wouldn't work. He said he'd come back to visit us in 45 minutes once the shunt was placed. We always knew this was a possibility, but were told her anatomy was "perfect" for the ETV. Guess you can't judge a book by its cover, even with an MRI. Shunt surgeries are common, and it is rare to have serious complications. But two agonizing hours later, we were told what happened. Duri

She's Here!

The c-section went beautifully, Maggie was delivered at 10:17. She's 6 lbs 13 oz and has a smattering of Davey's hair, my chin, Millie's voice, Kate's ears, and Josie's temperament. Her lungs seem pretty immature so she's in the Newborn ICU for now. Millie is back in her pre-op room and has not yet been able to really see Maggie. Immediately after delivering her the doctors whisked Maggie into the NICU in the adjoining room. I've been able to see her in there and have shown Millie the pictures. The lesion on her back looks good--it looks like a patch of skin covering what used to be the hole that was there. Her feet don't have any noticeable clubbing and she definitely has more sensation there than Davey did. We are so grateful that she is here.     Posted with Blogsy