Prayer Requests

ROP

2011-07-05T09:14:00.001-04:00

Today is a big day for Harper and for us...she has her eyes checked again to see if the ROP has progressed, regressed, or stayed the same. Our prayer is that God continues to hold Harper in His care. That what unfolds today is part of His plan. We also pray that He hold the doctor in His care and that what the doctor decides about Harper and her eyes is what is best for Harper and God's will for Harper.

Mature lungs, and growing baby Harper

2011-05-14T11:20:00.002-04:00

Harper is now struggling with BPD from the vent, but they have started her on another round of steroids with the hopes of weening her from the vent in a few days. Please pray the steroids do their job. Please also pray for Harper to continue to grow and get stronger. With any micro preemie, the scare of bleeding in her brain is always there so please pray that does not start - she has not had any thus far, but the risk is always present. The risk of infection is also there, so prayers for no infection are needed. And lastly, pray for her little eyes and that the oxygen and vent are not damaging them. God is good, and I am thankful He is in charge and I am not!! Thank you for your continued prayers for our little miracle, Harper Grace.

Placenta Previa - My Urgent Prayer Request

2011-03-16T01:26:00.004-04:00

Since I can' sleep, I figured maybe it will help if I get my worries out of my head. I just updated the News and Updates earlier today, but if you haven't read that, I have complete placenta previa - the placenta is on the bottom sitting over the cervix. 5% of pregnancies are diagnosed with this during the 18 to 20wk ultrasound, and 90% correct themselves. That should comfort me, but it doesn't. I have found, especially in medical situations, when the worst can happen, it does - to me. I don't know why I have to do everything the hard way, I really do not want to. So my prayer is that this corrects itself and NOW! My other prayer is that if for some reason it doesn't, the worst things that can happen - hemorrhage, placenta accreta, preterm delivery do not happen. And my third prayer is that I do not bleed to death. I know how dramatic and over the top that sounds, but I am just sharing what I am afraid of. I am on blood thinners and that alone has me praying every day that I will not have any accidents or falls or any other mishaps that will cause me to need surgery or to have a bleeding injury and now that I have this, those fears are like ...quadruple. This is the biggest cause of bleeding and hemorrhage during the second and third trimesters. When we saw the doctor today, he told us we would talk about all of the risks in four weeks if the placenta previa has not corrected itself. At the time, I didn't know about the bleeding risk, so I didn't know to ask him if maybe that risk out weighs the risk of a clot and thus the need for the blood thinners. We are planning another talk with him in the next few days. He was in an unusual hurry today, and maybe it is just that I am worrying about things that just aren't to be worried about right now. What else is new? So I covet your prayers today as I always do. I really just want to have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. And I want all of these scary risks to just go away.

A healthy uneventful pregnancy

2011-02-23T09:49:00.002-05:00

My prayers are for a healthy, uneventful pregnancy and delivery. Matt has no idea what that is even like. I am also praying that I give this pregnancy and my worries about it over to God. I am a worry wort by nature, and after everything we have been through it is magnified by like a thousand times! Every time I find myself worrying I force myself to stop and pray. Sometimes it is harder than others, but I know if I do it often enough eventually it will become habit and I can kick the worrying habit all together. I know God is in control, and I feel God's presence all over our lives. I am constantly reminded of the time I felt God nudging me to let go when I was pregnant with the boys, and HE gave me the strength - or weakness- to do it. "My grace is sufficient for you...For when I am weak, He is strong." 2 Corinthians 12: 7-10

A New Prayer

2010-10-21T06:15:00.003-04:00

I struggled with what to name this post. I don't know if any one even checks the prayer requests any more, since I hardly ever update it. It is hard for me to ask for prayer. Let me explain. I have struggled with my prayer life. I have no problem thanking God for my many blessings. But I have a problem asking Him for anything. I know how wrong that is, but I can't help it. You see, when Michael was sick I would spend hours flat on my face begging God to just save him. If he could just live long enough to raise Billie, even if he had to be fighting cancer the whole time, we could live with that. I was convinced God was going to give us a miracle. And that miracle never came. I am not saying God didn't answer my prayer, I am sure He answered it His way and not mine, but I felt like he didn't listen. I felt completely abandoned by God.

It took me several years to get back on my prayer feet. It was a long hard road, but I got there. And then soon after I found out I was pregnant with conjoined twin boys. I was crushed. I was devastated. I could not believe I had to go through something else so tragic and so hard. I could not believe Billie had to endure something so hard. I prayed. I never stopped. I honestly think I prayed in my head about half of every hour I was awake. I bet I prayed in my sleep. When they were born I was so overjoyed. The doctor told us they were breathing on their own and I just knew God was answering my prayers. And then about an hour later we were told they weren't going to make it after all. I didn't have time to think about being angry at God or about my prayers. I just continued to pray for strength and peace for all of us.

It was a few weeks after their funeral that my prayer life started to struggle again. And even today I still struggle with it. It is just something that I am going to probably deal with the rest of my life. Is it wrong? Yes. I am sure it is. But I can't help it and I think God understands. I have these moments of clarity and strength and peace - and I know they are from God. He somehow explains it all in my heart. It still doesn't make sense in my brain and it is when I try to make it make sense; to answer the question "Why?" that my prayer life is then shaken again. So I am a work in progress. And I will keep putting one foot in front of the other and working. And God will continue to work in me, too.

All of that to say, I need your prayers. I am stressed to the max with school, work, applying for grad school, Billie, Matt and Blue and the many activities we are all involved with. And on top of all of that we have been trying to conceive for about 2 years now. I think I have shared a little of that, and I won't go into details now, but we have lost a few babies since we started trying and we have used the help of a fertility doctor, to no avail. So we are just back to trying naturally, and taking progesterone if I do conceive to hopefully keep me from another miscarriage. I am not young, and my hormones are proof. We are exhausted and broken and we need your prayers. We all want a baby so badly. Not to replace the boys, they can never be replaced. We just want to add one more to our family. I know God has a plan for us, I just don't know what that plan is. But we all hope and pray that it does include a baby. And I could use prayers from all of you. I don't know specifically what to ask you to pray for, but now that you know my heart and my struggle, pray for what you think I need - or what God thinks I need.

A JOB

2009-01-26T17:47:00.003-05:00

I know I haven't updated the prayer request in months and months, but I do have a specific and urgent one. Matt was laid off a couple weeks ago and is now searching for a new job. I am in school full time and currently not working, so we have no income as of right now, at all. His former employer has been going through some hard financial times and also owes us for a months worth of pay. That pay plus some outside work that he did freelance a long time ago would keep us going for several months while he searches for a job. So we are praying for that income that is owed to come in and for Matt to find a good job. Thank you for your continued and faithful prayers!

Strength and Peace

2008-07-25T14:48:00.003-04:00

I haven't updated the prayer requests page in a while, I guess I just haven't thought of it. I know that everyone has been lifting us up in prayer, otherwise we would not be able to go on day after day like we have been. My specific prayer request is for the strength and peace we need to go on with our lives with out Joshua and Caleb. We were busy in the last few days with planning and preparations, and now that things have slowed down I know it is going to get harder for us. Please pray for not only Matt and I, but also for Billie and for our extended family. Our parents are also grieving and I know the rest of our family and friends are grieving not only for the boys but for us, as well. We love you all so much and covet your prayers, THANK YOU!

Delivery

2008-06-30T18:51:00.003-04:00

We are once again concerned about delivery. We see two different doctors at the practice, and they have two different ideas of how to deliver the boys. They are both good doctors, and they both have valid points. We are not doctors or surgeons, and we have to leave these decisions up to them. We are torn as to which is the best way, and we need prayers that God will not only guide us, but will guide our surgeons to make the best decision for us. We are going to pray about this and completely give it over to the Lord. This is hard for both of us to do, but we really have to let the control be in God's hands on this one. Sure, we can demand one doctor over the other, but what if the doctor we do not choose had the right idea all along? We want your prayers for our doctors, all of them. There are actually three in the practice and any of them could deliver if I go into labor, it will just depend who is on-call at the time. Please pray that God leads them during the surgery and that it is successful with no major problems.

Nurses

2008-06-21T11:09:00.003-04:00

We have been so blessed to meet with a few of the nurses that have volunteered to take care of Joshua and Caleb once they are born. We want to request prayer specifically for all of those nurses that have volunteered to be on the team. We pray that God will lead them, strengthen them and help them as they face the challenges that will no doubt come with Joshua and Caleb. None of us know what the boys needs will be until they are born, and we are fortunate to have knowledgeable, loving and caring nurses and doctors to take care of those needs. Here is a list of those nurses that have volunteered for Joshua and Caleb's team:

Days:
Sunni W.
Beth H.
Jennifer S.
Bonnie E.
Ann B.
Kristen P.
Ann K.
Kyle S.
Nancy P.

Nights:
Fran H.
Janet N.
Tracie B.
Amanda S.
Pam D.
Shauna N.

Sherri is in charge of all of this for us, and we pray for God to lead her and be with her, as well.

Please also be in prayer for my doctors and the babie's doctors, too. We do not want to be specific with names to protect privacy, but God knows who they are.

More Contractions & More Decisions

2008-06-12T16:32:00.000-04:00

We are faced with a lot of decisions about medical intervention once the babies are born. We pray that God will lead us to do what he wants for our boys, and that we do not make hasty decisions that we later regret. We want our boys to have the best chance possible, but we certainly do not want to prolong the inevitable or put them in any pain.

I am also experiencing a lot of contractions, which we do have medication for to help stop them. We pray that we are able to carry this pregnancy long enough to give the boys a good chance at survival, specifically their lungs. They are going to probably struggle to breathe with their small chest capacity even if they are full term, so we want to give them all of the time they need in the womb to mature their lungs.

Urgent Prayer

2008-06-10T16:57:00.000-04:00

We of course ask for God's will above all else. We are concerned with pre-term labor at this point, however. We want to give the boys the best possible chance at survival, so our prayer is that we will carry this pregnancy as long as possible and that we are given the opportunity for a planned delivery instead of going into labor unexpectedly.

We all need God to give us strength and courage, and we pray he stays right where he has constantly been through all of this, right by our sides guiding us with every decision we have had to make.