miracle monday

hello all!
i have been thinking a lot about the birth of my second child. the birth of any child is a miracle in own right, but haley's was a little more complicated...for me at least.
i found out i was pregnant with haley a couple of months before i turned 20. we were really excited, i knew she was going to be a girl. lucky me, i had a grandparent die while i was pregnant with my first 3 kids. with alex, it was my great grandpa, with haley, it was my grandma. she was only in her 60's. it was tough. even tougher was the fact that i delivered my haley in the same hospital that my grandma died in. it was so very hard on my dad, my grandpa, and my uncle (he visited me with every kid).
anyway, i measured big with haley. in fact, the doctor mentioned the possibility of twins. no, no twins, just a big baby. i had a great doctor. he took me seriously when i mentioned some concerns about having a baby over 9 pounds. "you think she'll be that big?" he asked me. i did. he said he'd induce me a week early. that's as early as he could do it without medical cause for the insurance company. well, haley had other plans. my water broke 2 weeks before my due date. she weighed 8 pounds, 15 oz. for 2 weeks early, that's a good sized baby. as miraculous as having another healthy baby was, that isn't the end of the story.
haley was born at 11:45 am. they decided to leave my IV in for a while. my epidural had actually worn off during her delivery, and so i was feeling a little worn out. we had lots of visitors, and a little boy that wanted to meet his new sister, so i lost track of time. i think between 12 and 6:30 pm, i had one nurse come in to ask me if i had to go to the bathroom. i didn't. i didn't think that was strange. i really didn't think about it at all. not until i realized i hadn't gone in 6+ hours and had an IV in the whole time.
i asked the nurse if she could come in and help me go to the rest room. i still didn't feel like i needed to go, but i figured i needed to try. that's when all "H E double hockey sticks". as the nurse helped me to sit up, i felt a rush of warmth, and felt really light headed. as i stood up, the blood just gushed. apparently when your bladder gets really full, it stops your uterus from contracting..well, that and the trauma of having a huge baby. the nurse called for more help, and the two together tried to get me to the bathroom with out dropping me. i felt my legs a little, but i kept almost passing out. i still couldn't pee. they couldn't get me to stop bleeding. they carried me back to the bed, and called the doctor. my poor husband was there watching this all while (hang on a sec, while i compose myself) holding our new baby. needless to say, the man was scared to death. at this time, my dad and little brother show up. i told jeff to take the baby and go in the hall while they worked on me. the doctor had to catheterize me again. it took for ever, and i was feeling everything. i was so scared...scared i would never have any more kids, scared that i wouldn't see my family again. they finally were able to get the bleeding under control. i wasn't allowed to get up without at least 2 nurses. they brought in one of those potty chairs, that's what i had to use for the following day. they left the IV in until i left the hospital.
i didn't need blood. i didn't need to stay any extra time. i went on to have 3 more children (we had to be very cautious after each birth because i had the same problem with all the others). i was blessed with a beautiful little girl, a doctor that shared my faith, and a grandma that i know was watching out for me and her little namesake.

for more miracles, head on down to beth's at http://beth-amomslife.blogspot.com/. if you have any miracles, she'd love to hear them!
tell your friends, family, shoot, perfect strangers about her blog. we need to hear more miracles!