Wednesday, November 2, 2011

My Story.

Here is my story,
November of 2008
I had just started Beauty school, and was attending full time (M-F ,9-5). It seemed I had everything going as planned, being that I had just finished high school earlier that year. I was 18yrs. old and had never had any type of boyfriend. I had a steady job at the local supermarket ,and i worked nights and weekends. I was planning on finishing beauty school , then finding a salon job ,and working there for a few years to establish my hair styling career. Then i would start looking for Mr. Right :) Everything was in order!

                                                                            

I wasn't even in to a month of B school ,when things started to change. I had been asking God to draw me closer to himself. I had felt like I was not where I need to be to make it out of B School without some faith and character left. So he opened the door at church, the pastor had just started a bible study for college age adults. So my sisters and I checked it out one of the first Sundays it took place.
When we walked in the door there was a group 8 people, and most of them guys. As we sat down and everyone went around the room introducing themselves ,there was this guy that for some reason stood out to me. Although i was telling my self "Um ,you are not looking" ,Oh but I was.... He was loud ,funny ,and extremely good looking. As the night went on I kept finding myself watching this guy. He seemed so genuine, somewhat reserved. He was mingling after the meeting was over. I remember seeing him cross the room, towards me. I quickly tried to find something to make it look like I couldn't, and didn't want to talk. That usually worked for me with guys, and at first it worked .He started talking to my sisters, and I relaxed. Cause he was way out of my league, and I didn't want to get my hopes up. But then all of the sudden he turned and looked right at me ,and said "Do you talk?" And i was so caught off guard ,the first thing that came out of my mouth was "I do, just not to stupid people". And he just laughed at me ,he was the cutest thing ever!
Of course i kept coming to the bible study ,he wasn't always there but he was enough. My sisters and I got to know Nate, his brother and another guy (that my sister ended up marrying). We became friends on FB ,and finally invited them over one Sunday night. Then as the holidays approached ,his brother and him said how they were wanting to find something to do on New Years Eve, besides the partying they used to do. So we invited them to spend the time with our group of friends. Shockingly they showed up dressed in their best :) By this time I was so crazy in love with him ,and the more i asked God to take any false feelings away ,the stronger the feelings came. I had Never felt this way about any guy in my whole life!
Slowly we got to know each other better, and then it got to the point where everyone knew we liked each other. It was July of 2009, and I was very upset he hadn't made his intentions clear yet. But he flirted like crazy, so i was gonna take matters in to my own hands. And Sunday the 5th of July ,2009. I told my dad i was gonna talk to him, but the moment i went to talk to him. He came to me and asked if we could talk. It was almost like a sign from God. We talked and he asked me out by the end of it. But are family does things a bit different from most people. I told him to talk to my dad, and that if he was serious he would stop drinking and smoking. And the next day he talked to my dad, stopped smoking and drinking. I was impressed :) My dad knew I wanted to wait until i was done with B school ,so he said we use that time to get to know each other better. And also to prove that Nate was gonna go back to everything as soon as he got me.
I Graduated from B school on the 2nd of November 2009, and that night we went on our first date. His personality slowly cause me to open up as a person .Growing up I was never able to do that .We dated with the intent to marry ,and that was the only way i would have dated him.
Then on June 6th ,2010 he took me on the same walk he took me on to ask me out . And when we got to the bridge at the park ,we were hugging watching the water. And i could hear his heart beating like crazy,and right as I was asking what was wrong ,he dropped to one knee and asked me to marry him. And of course i said YES!
                                                                             
We married that November ,on the 12th.
I had never really wanted kids ,I thought I wasn't able to be a mom. But seeing Nate's love for kids as we were dating. And he told me how much he wanted kids of his own. I had asked God to change my heart on that issue, and he did. We had agreed to start trying right after we got married. And then by that Christmas I was about 3 weeks along :) Although we were so happy, I was miserable .I was sick from the beginning, and i was scared. At my first appointment at 15weeks my doctor said everything looked fine. And that I just had the normal morning sickness. Also at that appointment she said she was about 70% sure we were having a lil' Dude. At week 18 I had another appointment, and that's when they found that i had 2 separate uterus. And he was in the left one, meaning he would have less room. They said he could come early ,and that i would have to have a C-section. Whatever happen though, they said he would be a bit on the small side, and there was a chance he would come full term. This was a lot to take in!
                                                                             
I was still working at the salon full time, even though i was sick at least once a week, They knew what was happening and were very flexible with me. I was at week 24, when i was so sick I ended up at the ER to get some IVs to keep me hydrated. I had started going into labor, but thankfully they were able to stabilize me. After that i stopped work, I was too sick and my doctor wanted me to take it easy. I remember praying in my bed one morning as i lay there sicker then a dog, and god spoke to me , saying " Whatever happens know that it will be ok, I am with you" . Things seem to get better after i stopped working. But it was short lived.
It was Friday, May 13th 2011, I had taken my little siblings to a festival a few towns away. We spent the day walking around, and after i got home that night my feet were pretty swollen. I was at week 27 ,and i figured it was normal swelling during pregnancy. The next day i woke up and the swelling was worse, my legs were huge and stiff. I assumed everything was still ok ,cause i could feel him having a party inside me. As Saturday went on the swelling got worse. Sunday the 15th ,We were getting ready for church when i started having some pain in my neck ,it felt like someone was stabbing me. I also was feeling so tired ,and now my feet, legs, hands, and arms were HUGE. We went to church ,I had to sit down most of the service, I had no strength left. We went to my parents after church, my mom came to us concerned and asked me to take a test she had ,to see if i had toxemia. So i did ,and tested positive. she said she thought we needed to go in. By then it was about 2pm, I had started having the pain in my neck move to my head. I had also started to shake uncontrollably ,and had started vomiting because the pain was so bad. So we got in our car and headed to the ER. We were both scared ,he was driving so fast we got pulled over. But we were let go, after the cop asked us if we wanted an ambulance. We arrived at the ER, and were taken up to Labor and Delivery Triage. Were they hooked me up to a few IVs and waited for the Doctor to decide what was wrong with me. Mean while i was dry heaving ,shaking and running a pretty high blood pressure. Finally after about 3 hours they decided that i had Severe Preeclampsia .And the only way to save both the baby and I, was to take the baby out.
I felt like the world had stopped ,I hadn't even gone in to labor . And he was still kicking with a good heart rate! Why!?!?!
I remember just sobbing ,why was my body doing this to my sweet little unborn baby boy? They said they had to move quick ,or Nate would lose us both. My liver and kidneys were starting to shut down, and by then i looked like a massive balloon. Nate gave them the permission to go ahead and take the baby out. I was no longer aware of much i only remember bits and pieces. I remember going in to the operating room ,it was cold and i was shaking so much. But through everything i could still feel the baby inside me .
I woke up about 2am Monday morning, and only for a split second. And i remember I was told I was in ICU. And Nate was right by my side, telling me we had a little beautiful boy a few floors down. And that he was 1lb. 3oz. and that he named him Isaiah Wade. A name i had picked out a few weeks before, that we added to our list.
I felt so much peace, and even though i couldn't talk cause i was still on life support. I remember squeezing his hand ,telling him i understood. Nate never left the hospital as he went between both of our rooms updating me on Isaiah ,because i hadn't been able to see him. I was given a few pictures of him. He was the most beautiful baby in the whole world!

1 comment:

  1. Jules,
    What an amazing story. I am so glad you were willing to share it. God has definitely had you and your family in His hands. I could relate to some of your story and it just reminds me how good God is and how He always has a plan. Praying for you, Nate and Isaiah every night. Maybe someday Grace will have the opportunity to run around with Isaiah. :)
    ~Rebecca Tobin

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