Tender Mercies

I'm not going to lie. Today has been one of the hardest, most emotional days I have had in a long time. Actually, maybe ever. At least that I can remember. It actually started Tuesday. I was suppose to drive to LA for an OB appt. Instead, in the middle of the night I came down with a nasty case of the flu and was in no condition to travel. My Dr in LA encouraged me to see my OB in Fresno on Wed. Wednesday I went to the Dr office, and I had signs of preclampsia. They recommended I check into St Agnes and be evaluated. Heres the problem. If they found any problems, Id be admitted and possibly deliver there. OR I could make the 4 hour drive to LA, coming off of the flu and having signs of preclampsia and pray nothing happened. We chose the second option. We gave ourselves 10 minutes to throw a bag together of some essentials, and get a change of clothes to my moms for Maddox so he could stay with her. We didnt get to LA until last night. They monitored me overnight, and this morning Dr came in to say that he didnt want to deliver if he didnt have to. They were still weighing some factors, but that he would rather wait until next week, when the c section was already planned and the baby would have a little more time to mature. The problem was, when I was discharged from the hospital, where would I go until next week? Back to Fresno? If that was the case, and I came down with symptoms again, it would be recommended to stay and deliver in Fresno. Or, I could stay in LA for a few days and wait it out in case something happened I could be nearby. SO many factors, in fact too many to mention here went into us making our decision. Where would we stay? Mike just started a new job on Monday, how would his new employers respond knowing he possibly wouldnt be home until later next week? Would they want him to come home to work until next week when baby was delivered? Financially, how would we take almost 2 weeks off work, and stay in hotels for almost a week and pay for all the other expenses? Wheres Maddy going to go? If Mike goes back to work for a few days, who will come to stay with me? How/when will they get here? Will it be my sister who then has to take a final early, and then jump on a plane? Is it my mom who is schedualed to work? Will she have to take off work now to be with me instead of taking time off after baby is born? And the list goes on. We decided that whatever it took, I would be staying in LA. We would work out the kinks later. Who came and went could be worked out. So we began to look online. We found a few places we thought would work in our budget, and close to the hospital. A few nurses recommended the same hotel to us. So we booked it. After being released from the hospital, we made our way to the hotel. I was immediately put off. It had been built in the 60s. Just the whole ambiance wasnt right. Im usually not TOO particular about hotels, but this one just gave off something I didnt like. Mike assured me that we would be fine. So we checked in. After seeing the room, which was sub-par at best, we went to look for dinner. I kept getting this ugly feeling though. Before we even found dinner Mike took me back to the hotel to cancel our reservation. Even though it was 9pm, we would find something somewhere else. The hotel wouldnt let us get away for free, in fact we still arent sure what exactly we are being charged, but bottom line was we werent staying there. We agreed to stay at the hotel we had stayed at when we came to LA to deliver Maddox. We feel so much better here. As soon as we walked in the room it felt like home. We felt safe. After an emotionally draining day, from thinking we were going to be meeting our baby girl, to being discharged, to having to answer so many questions to know how to handle the situation, and to having hotel difficulties, we have been touched by SO many tender mercies. And although many of them may seem small, they made a huge impact in our day. We know that Heavenly Father is watching out for us. And even though it has been one of the craziest few days I have ever experienced, I am grateful for the love I have felt. Here are a few of the things that have made an impact on us.

*A great doctor. Even while we were driving down to LA on Wednesday, he called me, PERSONALLY (not some assistant) from his home - on his afternoon off- THREE TIMES to check on me. There is nothing that can replace the feeling of an incredible doctor taking good care of you and watching out for you

*Family that takes care of family. My mom, dad, mother in law, and sister in law have all pitched in help take care of Maddox. I love calling to check up on him, only to know he isnt interested in talking to me because is having too much fun. Its a comforting feeling to know hes loved and taken care of.

*Nurses at a hospital that are willing to help with ANYTHING. Even recommendations to hotels (even though we didnt end up staying there).

*Patient relations. One of the nurses asked a lady from patient relations to come talk to us about different places to stay so we could get a discount for being a patient at CSMC. The lady who came was MORE than informative. When she found out where we had parked when we arrived, she was kind enough to get us a card that gave us free parking whenever we were there. Something she didnt have to do. But she said she liked us and didnt like the situation we were in, so she was helping us out so we wouldnt have to pay $15 a day just to park at the hospital!

*In laws who care. I seriously have the best in laws. Mike called his dad and mom a few times throughout the day to get some advice from his parents. Whatever our concerns were, they immediately assured us that they would take care of the problem. Whether it was helping with Maddox, or flipping us a dime if we fell short, they were there.

*Mike called his employer to ask if he should come back and work for a few days, or when they would like him to come back and work. Since he is on salary, we wanted Mike to be an honest man and work for his pay. His employer (who he worked for only 2 days!) told him to take through next week off. Almost a whole 2 weeks. Mike will still get paid. AMAZING.

*When I was being discharged from the hospital we asked the nurse if she would be working next week so we could see her when we came in. She responded no, she was going on vacation after the shift until January. Then she told me, "in fact, my shift is over right now, but I wanted you to be my last patient before vacation, since I liked you the best". Im not going to lie, it melted my heart.

*When we got to the Extended Stay, the guy at the front desk gave us a generous discount after hearing I had just been discharged from the hospital. Then he hooked us up with the best room they had available, just we would be more comfortable.

*We went to register for internet here at the hotel, and once again, the guy hooked us up. Free internet! (ok it would have only cost us $5 for the entire week, but it was the thought that counted)

*My mom's boss heard our situation, and assured my mom that if she needed the time off it would be ok. HUGE relief.

*My sisters math teacher is allowing her to take her final tomorrow instead of on Monday so Krissy can be available to help if/when we need her.

and the list goes on really... Its been amazing how everything has fallen into place. I couldnt be more grateful. I feel so much love for my friends, family and even strangers who have helped make, no, who have MADE this experience SO much better than it could have been. In times that I was feeling so low, I soon would feel so loved, to touched, so watched over, protected. I am grateful that my Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. Sometimes not through the expected ways, but through our trials, and tender mercies.