with thankful hearts...

With everything God has done for our family in the past year, I know He is building a testimony meant to help others see His love and run to Christ.  As I sit here and watch my amazing daughter smile and talk as she swings herself to sleep, "thankful" doesn't seem to describe how grateful I am.......grateful that our kids have two loving parents...grateful that our Boo adores his sister and is adapting well to being a full-time big brother...grateful that we had a healthy pregnancy and delivery - all thanks to the fact that God cares about the details of our lives.

Despite "chances being good" that I would suffer from Preeclampsia (because I had it with Joseph) I did not have spikes in my blood pressure until the very end, so I was never on bed rest or any kind of physical restriction.  I did get Gestational Diabetes this time around (did NOT have it with Joe) but adjusting my diet and walking sufficiently controlled my sugar so no insulin was necessary.  Like my labor with Joseph the first induction did not work; however, Dr. Brewer had me wait a whole week before inducing me again where with Joseph we did it during the same hospital stay.  So, leaving without a baby was definitely a bummer but not devastating. I think the worst thing that happened was the postpartum hemorrhage after the delivery and that's just because we all want labor to actually end once our lil one is finally here!  I was fearful, hoping the D&C would work given how painful the pre-D&C exam was - I wasn't wanting another one like it....EVER (lol).  I just kept thinking about how jacked up my body is and yet God gave us our Aubrey Grace...beautiful, healthy - perfect. I'm so glad He's bigger.

Our family has definitely been put through the fire since last January but He has shown his favor and faithfulness through each trial.  We will soon know what the next chapter holds in our lives....I'm excited to know what's in store for the Randalls in 2012.

Miracle

We had been told that without medical help we would not conceive. My ovaries rarely worked which had threatened the health of my uterus. In order to help preserve my reproduction system the doctors put me on birth control hoping to regulate my body. I was also taking medicine to help my body process glucose as I am glucose resistant. However, in October we decided if we were going to act on faith that God would give us a child I had to get off of birth control – so I did. In November we received two words from the Lord saying we would have children. I was so thrilled, faith increased we continued to believe for divine intervention. In early January I had a dream. In it I saw huge marks on my body that looked like raised flesh and saw a bump on the left lower abdomen. In the dream I did not know what was going on and went to the doctor. The doctor, unable to see the marks, only laughed and said “You’re pregnant!” The Lord later revealed to me that He had done surgery on my body and the doctors would not see the scars only the results. I did not understand fully but took at pregnancy test first thing the next morning and it was POSITIVE. A few weeks went by and we received our first ultrasound. To our amazement we were not as far along as the doctors had thought. In fact, they were so far off it meant our positive home pregnancy test came as early as only a week after implantation. God knew what He was doing. You see, my ovaries were still not working, not producing the pregnancy hormone Progesterone as they are meant to, thus had the test not popped when it did we would have lost our baby. God is bigger. He gave us favor with the doctors, who tested me immediately and found my body lacking. They put me on supplements immediately (turns out I was only in my 4th wk of pregnancy, so the baby was only 2 wks along) preserving our precious baby to the glory of God! When I prayed to the Lord, you said you healed my body. He said clearly to me, “No, I said I had done surgery on your body and I had done what your body could not do on its own.” Praise Jesus for His love for us – He cares about what we care about. He has a plan!


We are seven weeks pregnant today. Our baby’s heart is beating a strong 120 bpm and due September 15th, 2011.