How does the time fly? And how are things going after our little journey in the hopsital?

Well, we came home on Friday and Saturday morning I was back in the ER at Kalamazoo. I just hadn't felt right all night and after calling the doctors and telling them how I was feeling, they wanted me to come in right away to be checked on for fear that I threw a clot. That day is a long story, but we took yet another step of faith that day and chose to trust in Yahweh rather than going through with some tests that had the potential to cause great damage to my body. I think how I was feeling was just due to being overwhelmed with the situation, being home with my children, and a few other things. I was really stressed getting home, and I think it got the best of me, so now I remind myself that I am okay and to calm down. :) Feeling much better and gaining strength from Him to keep moving forward til all this is said and done.

Benaiah had many visitors in the hospital. And of course coming home, he was smothered in love. Josiah hasn't wanted to hold him yet, but does ask if he can "pet" him. We explained to him that he is not a pet but a person. He still thinks he should pet because his hair is so soft. :)

Here is Diella holding Benaiah. Big smiles from them both.

And the biggest sister, Alegra, holding Benaiah.

She absolutely loves to hold him and has even put him

to sleep for me and layed him down without me even knowing it.

What a great helper!

Grandpa Daniel holding Benaiah right after he was born.

I think he is happy to have Benaiah have his name.

Grandma Deborah right after he was born.

Richard and Lee Mishler came up to see and hold Benaiah.

We sure appreciated our church family coming and visiting as

often as they did before and after Benaiah was born.

Melanie Pearson getting her baby fix. Aren't you ready

for another, Mel?

Grandma Linda Bovee holding him with all smiles, knowing how much

Grandpa Byron would have loved him.

Aunt Mandy getting acquainted with him. Will he love her as much as Josiah loves her?

Great Grandpa and Grandma Murphy coming for their first peek at him. Blessed to have them around so the children can spend time with them.

And our good friends Phil and Casie Brothers holding Benaiah and their baby, Amalyah. Amalyah is 11 weeks old. What a big difference in the babies just with that little bit of time. What a blessing!

We have had so much help since being home. Our church family has been just awesome as they have felt the prompting to help in certain areas and have been obedient to that call. We've had groceries brought, meals brought, dishes done, floors swept, and just good sitting and visiting time. What a blessing for sure!

I believe we are all adjusting quite well. I am feeling like a normal person again. I have no idea what the clot is doing in my leg, but I trust that God has it all in control. The house has been a mess with bringing so much home (and with never really having gotten everything ready before we ended up in the hospital), so I am slowly working at that. The children's room is piled high, so it will be wonderful when that gets all put together and rearranged to fit everything. Will take some time though. I forgot how much time it takes to tend to a baby.

Come back after the weekend. Benaiah is getting dedicated to the Lord on Saturday. We will surely have pictures and a posting on what we shared.

A babe is born- Benaiah Daniel Bovee

May 19, 2009

11:11am

9lbs. and 21 inches long

It was a long and hard labor to have this baby. But look at him, I think he was well worth it! And praise God that there were no complications, everything went naturally just as I had prayed for, and we have a very healthy boy.

The clot- tomorrow morning at 7 I will be getting the filter removed. At this point the doctor thinks that the clot is stable enough and won't be an issue of giving me more problems. They will send me home with medication to take that will work at the clot and prevent it from growing. We still don't know when we will go home, but things look better. We have just been so amazed at how we have seen God's hand in this whole situation. Some would probably say that this certainly hasn't been a blessing to our family, but I would disagree. Yes, it's been a situation that nobody would want to go through, but seeing God work has been such a blessing in our lives. And so many other families are also seeing Him work and it's been a great testimony! If I have to suffer for His glory and testimony to others of His wondrous and marvelous works, then so be it. He has been faithful to us in showing us that He has been with us every step of the way and I praise Him for that!!!!

Well, I have a baby that wants to eat. Sounds like that's going to be my story here for the next year. What a blessing!!!

Happy Anniversary to us! 12 years of learning and growing

May 17th - Happy Anniversary!

It's been 12 years of an amazing journey!

(Sorry I don't have any wedding pictures on this computer to contribute.)

This picture shows some silliness, but all 12 years haven't been full of silliness and happiness. There has been tons of learning, growing, sacrificing, and striving to be the husband/wife that God would want us to be with fail and with accomplishment.

Many couples give up so quickly after things just don't go in the fairy style way that they had in their minds on their wedding day. We were there once. Then we entered the "hating marriage" time and things weren't ending in the happily ever after way we had planned. But with a determination to make it work and give up our selfish attitudes and become who God wanted us to be, we stuck it out, and couldn't be happier now.
Now look where we are at....in the hospital waiting for our 4th child with me having a serious blood clot in my body and relying on the One who got us this far to get us out of this situation safely. Though I wouldn't want to go through the garbage again, I certainly wouldn't trade it for anything either. That time in our lives made us who we are today and taught us so much about serving one another and loving in a way that definitely isn't portrayed on TV or movies. It's a way that takes a great deal of work and sacrifice, and is much more rewarding in the end.

If you are struggling in your marriage, hang in there and look at your own heart. It always starts in yourself, and if you are doing what you should, then everything else will fall into place. It may not be easy, but totally worth it!

I have the best husband ever (I haven't always been able to say that)! I lay here in the hospital, and when I am feeling discouraged about my situation, I can express it and Jonathon is always so quick to encourage me with a smile like he knows exactly how it will all turn out and that it will all be just fine. I need his support right now, and he gives that to me above and beyond what I could ask for. It's not him....he couldn't be that way without the strength and peace from God. I am blessed to have a man who trusts and obeys and lets God guide our family in all that we do.

MRI results from today

Today I had another MRI done to see how the clot is doing. We found out this evening that it has not changed in size at all. So, I am back on bed rest except for going to the bathroom. I feel discouraged at the fact that I have to go through labor with it being so large still. And I wonder how if I will have to stay even longer after baby comes with it still being so big. I just don't understand, but do understand that God has a plan for all this. I just don't know what it is. Please continue to pray for me (as I know you all are). I'm feeling a little down about it. Really wanting this baby to come so that clot can get taken care of. I would greatly appreciate more prayers!!!!!

Guest blogger on Money Saving Mom

I was very honored to have been chosen as one of Money Saving Mom's guest bloggers since she has had her newest baby. It does make me anxious for my own little one to arrive and thankfully I had my article all completed for her before my hospital incident. If you would like to check it out, feel free to head on over to her blog here. You will learn about some free and cheap ways to enjoy the summer with your family.

Hope you are all having a great day. Its rainy here in Kalamazoo and I hear it's rainy back home too. All the flowers and veggies that have been planted will enjoy the little drink as long as the deer haven't helped themselves to eating them. Grrr! I am very excited to get home to see what all has been planted and how things look.

Have a great day!

Happy Mother's Day from the hospital!

We spent today with the children. Was so nice since I haven't had much of any time with them since my hospital stay has begun. We took a little walk to the hospital's solarium where the atmosphere is nicer and there is a fun little magnet play table for children that they just love. They all loved taking pictures and getting their picture taken.

Then we went back to my room to play games and rest my body. We played peanut butter and jelly and skip-bo. Nobody won at peanut butter and jelly and Alegra and I were the only two left playing skip bo as the others got bored with it. She ended up winning and then it was time for supper.

Josiah using his toes in a great way. This is how he held his cards for most of the game. Very funny!

We had supper together and then Jonathon's mom, sister, and brother came and picked up the children to take to grandma's house for a few days. We are praying that this week will be an exciting week with a new baby arriving. The due date is next Sunday, so I'm hoping it will happen soon to get things moving and rolling with getting this clot taken care of. First baby, then the clot.

Hope you all had a great day with your moms or with your children. We sure did and created a unique memory this Mother's Day with being in the hospital.

A little scare!

Today is a new day..."His mercies endure forever". Yesterday is over with, praise God! It was a rough and tiring day for me. I had breakfast and got a bath taken and felt pretty good until I came out of the bathroom and sat on my bed. Jonathon was getting ready to leave for an appointment, and I told him that I just didn't feel good and felt so tired. Next thing I know he is leaving and I am feeling awful (okay, beyond awful), and was trying to call him to come back and ended up calling the nurse to come right away. Well, to make a long story short, my blood pressure dropped crazily and then the baby's heart rate dropped as well. The nurse quickly put oxygen on me, got me a cool washcloth because I was dripping with sweat and pushed me over to my left side to get the baby's heart rate to go back to normal. Jonathon came back to quite the sight. They sent me down to the labor and delivery floor where I could be on constant monitor for 2 hours straight. After that episode all my vitals went back to normal and the baby's heart rate was better than evern. It was very strange, but it did cause me to appreciate the fact that I'm here and not home. I have wanted to be home so badly, but after that incident I am realizing that this really is the safest place for me and for the baby. Not easy having to continue to wait, but the days go by and I am nearing the birth of our 4th baby. Before I know this will all be over with and I'll be home, clot free and baby in arms.

Please do continue to pray for me as I know now that anything really can happen at any given moment. Yahweh has definitely continued to keep His hands upon me. My prayer is that He will continue through the upcoming days of getting me beyond all this. Pray that I won't have any more episodes like yesterday. Thanks for all the prayers that you all have already lifted up!

Hospital update

I am back on the IV drip as they can do a better job at keeping my levels where they should be with the IV as opposed to the injections. They started me on the number of units (1800) that I was on when they took me off of the IV last week. I was therapeutic last week at that many units, but this time it is too much. So, they bumped it down to 1600. I had another nose bleed (not quite as bad as the last one) and we started wondering if that clot has just gotten a lot smaller and my body doesn't need so much medication to work at it. And after lab work, they found that still 1600 was too much. Now I am at 1450 and lab will draw here shortly to see if that is still too high. The only explanation is that the clot is smaller and I just don't need as much medication. Praise Yah if this is truly the case.

Right now our specific prayer requests are that:
- Baby will not wait until the full 40 weeks. A little earlier would be just fine with us.
- The blood clot will be completely gone when they do the tests after baby comes to see how the clot is doing.
- The blood tests after baby comes will show that it is not a genetic thing. If it is genetic they would suggest medication for life. Something I am not at all comfortable with.
- Labor and delivery will be in His timing, will progress at a decent rate and will be as much of a beautiful birth as we had anticipated having at home with no complications due to the clot or anything else.
- What little Jonathon is able to work, would be productive and helpful for us financially.

Prayers already that have been answered:
- The swelling in my leg is gone! It is still a little uncomfortable but doesn't have the pain in it either. If I am up too long on it, it will still get a little discolored, but that is minor when they thought that it could be permanently damaged with always having pain and swelling in it. Praise Yah!
- They are going to allow me to go into labor on my own without inducing. I was not at peace at all about being induced as I feel I have plenty of medication already in my system. I don't need anymore. So this is a huge relief! Praise Yah!
- The levels are proving that I don't need as much medication, so they are slowly backing down on the Heparin. I am very happy with having less and less everyday. Bless His name!
- The children seem to be adjusting well wherever they end up. As a mom, this makes the stay a little easier. Not that it still isn't hard being away for so long and knowing that it could still be another 3 weeks by the time the baby comes and they have everything taken care of with the clot afterwards. But it does help that they are being cared for so well!
- Some have asked us about insurance for this terrible stay...well, the second day we were here, a lady contacted us about getting financial help with this whopper of a bill ( I can only imagine), and she helped us get paper work taken care of so that it would be completely covered. This is a HUGE blessing, especially for Jonathon as it really weighed on his mind. Yahweh does take care of those who trust in Him and believe that He will provide our every need. Praise Him!

So, that is the update thus far. We really can't express our gratitude enough for all that everybody has done for us! Our church family has been such a huge blessing in taking care of things at the house and tending to our children. What a blessing! We are always saying that we are all like family and would do anything for one another, but actually serving and doing is far different than just saying the words. They are proving to be servants and are taking care of us that's for sure. And we appreciate our parents as well who are helping take care of the children and helping me get baby things ready while I am stuck here in the hospital. I was anticipating having the extra 2-3 weeks to get baby stuff around, but those plans got messed up.

I continue to rest in His hands as He guides and provides for us. He is the Great Physician, Healer, and Saviour! He is all of those to me in a different way now. Praise Him for His mercy towards me!