Update on Penelope Mae

Well, life has been a little crazy these past few weeks! God has definitely been teaching us to trust Him.

Jonathan & I decided to take a vacation at an expensive, little Bed & Breakfast we like to call Glendale Adventist Hospital. It all started a few weeks ago when I came home from work with some weird chest pains. I had minor heart surgery in high school to correct an heart node problem and because of that, when we called our OB, he wanted me to come into the emergency room just to be safe. On the way to the hospital I also started developing a massive migraine unlike any headache I have ever experienced in my life.

Because of the pregnancy and the severity of the migraine they decided to admit me, which turned into about six days of constant vomiting and cardiology consultations. The final diagnosis was an inflammation of my chest wall caused by my growing belly, spreading my ribs apart. It sounds stupid but it can actually be somewhat painful and unnerving. It's called Costochondritis and it's said to feel somewhat like a heart attack so it can be relatively painful.

The unfortunate thing about the timing of all this was that my sister-in-law, Anne was actually on the other side of the hospital giving birth to my new (and precious) little nephew, Ray Lawrence Johnson. We were incredibly blessed by our family and amazing Bible study who provided endless amounts of encouragement and service to us.

I honestly think the whole thing was harder on Jonathan than it was on me. I barely remember anything from it, but he had to deal with the puking and crying from all of the failed IVs. God has blessed me with the sweetest, most patient and loving man that I ever could have asked for. He never once made me feel like I was an inconvienance. I am SO thankful for this incredible man! He is going to be the most amazing daddy!

Once we got home from the hospital things got a little worse before it got better. Now that I am feeling so much better I look back on the prehospital morning sickness and realize how easy I had it. I can't believe the things that I have taken for granted and I am daily asking the Lord to remind me of the countless ways that he has blessed me.

In the meantime, little Penny has been doing pretty well. She is kicking like crazy and Jona even had the opportunity to feel her kick after he played her a Beatles marathon through my belly. :) I would love to show you some new pictures of her because we have gotten several but she has been looking rather alien-like lately and they may scare you even more than the picture of me in the hospital.

We have had several doctor appointments to check up on her and so far the only thing they are a little concerned about are her dilated kidneys. Apparently this increases her chances of down syndrome. They made us go to genetic counseling which we found to be completely absurd. It is amazing to us that people would abort their baby just because of a slight chance of a birth defect.

We are so eager to meet this little one! I am at 23 weeks and it seems like it is just creeping by. I always found it a little interesting that people would tell me not to give up. That has never ever been an option. I truly believe that I would throw up every day for the rest of my life just to have this amazing gift. I can't imagine loving this little girl more and I can't wait to hold her and tell her what a little stinker she's been!