{so thankful}

Heavenly Father is AMAZING! I have to say, I already knew that but now I KNOW more than ever!

Today was my appointment with my OB/GYN to see how my placental/uterine tears were looking without all the blood and swelling. Basically, I have known that my best-case-scenerio would be a good mix between taking it exceptionally easy and bed rest for the duration of my pregnancy since a placenta cannot heal back to a uterus in situations like this. The risk of even the slightest of traumas (like picking up Dean or Eli wrong) would be that the placenta would continue to tear away completely and we would have to deliver immediately. Another risk of a partial placental abruption is that bleeding can continue and/or reoccur and get stuck between the placenta and uterus causing a hemorrhage that can actually be fatal to both me and the baby if it's undetected too long (this was what I was most concerned about, obviously).

I asked Devin to give me a blessing last night which was hard for me and, I think, only the first or second time I've ever done that. When we discussed what our concerns were before the blessing I just told him, "the baby". I've felt like my prayers have been extra confusing these past couple weeks because I have so badly WANTED pray to Heavenly Father that the baby would be healthy and fine and that all would work out for the best, but I never ended up actually saying that because I know that sometimes my idea of "the best" isn't at all what Heavenly Father has in store for me.

That being said, Heavenly Father heard my concerns anyway and really came through (as usual). We learned today that somehow, despite all the bleeding and swelling I have experienced, the placenta did NOT tear away from the uterus after all! What? When this all happened, that was the one thing the doc was sure of, so even he was amazed to see the new ultrasound images. He said there was no reason not to believe that I had complete tears because of how much of a mess it all was initially. I still weakened my placenta/uterus connection (basically, loosened it) in those two places and still have some swelling and bruising that needs another week of TLC, but the bleeding is completely gone (with no sign of where it was even coming from). My doc called it a "silent bleed" which means, basically, there is no explanation for where it started but it was not the baby's blood and I'm fine now so that's the best name for it.

So, Doctor's orders are: another week of taking it REALLY easy but thankfully, not official "bed rest" anymore. (He lectured me on not being restful enough the past couple weeks because the swelling should've been gone by now - busted. I guess he did mean "strict" bed rest after all. Oops!) Then, after a week has passed I just have to "take it easy" the rest of the pregnancy because my baby's home is still a bit weaker now (but in MUCH better shape than initially thought - I still can't get over that). Oh, and I CAN DRIVE AGAIN! WaHoooooo!!!

Today was a great day and MANY THANKS to everyone for all of your prayers (they were definitely heard), meals, sanity-saving phone calls, overall care and concern (and for the many offers to take my kiddos even though I didn't take you up on them). We are so blessed to have such WONDERFUL friends!