Christine's Story

I knew that I wanted to write about Christine's story but wasn't sure when the right time would be. I should have known that all I had to do was wait for God to lay it on my heart and he did. As I was reading a blog I follow, I read another heart breaking story of an unborn baby going to heaven. Also, with Christmas being this last week, I've really prayed for all the families that have lost loved ones this year. I know this was not an easy time for them and my thoughts always seems to turn towards those that are hurting. I pray for God's comfort and peace and know that only He can heal the broken hearted.

My younger sister Christine became pregnant in 2005. We were all so excited! She was and still is petite so her little baby bump poked on out. We talked about her pregnancy and the way she was feeling a good bit. I remember her saying that she felt alot of pressure and asked if that was normal. I didn't experience that but every pregnancy is different. She mentioned the pressure to her doctor, who in turn told her it was normal.

Around 19 weeks......her water broke. She went to the hospital and was told there wasn't anything they could do and that she would have to deliver the baby. The baby's lung were not developed at this point so there would be no chance of survival. We were all devastated. How could this happen? What was wrong and could this have been prevented??

I got the call between 11:00 and 12:00 that night she had delivered. The next morning I was so sad and I cried out to God, "Please if there is something I need to read PLEASE show it to me!" I opened my bible and it opened to I Samuel. I had only been a Christian about 10 months so in no way was I familiar with this story. As I read this wonderful story I could not believe what I was reading!! I cried tears of joy because I knew Christine would have a baby one day. I shared this with Christine a few weeks later.

There was nothing the doctors could tell Christine as far as why this had happened. I looked up PROM (Premature Rupture of the Membranes) online. I was shocked at how often this happened. I read so many stories of Mom's that experienced the same thing. Why couldn't anyone give these grieving Moms an answer? At that time she was going to a doctor in Cullman. We talked alot and she decided she thought it would be best to find another doctor in Birmingham. My friend and coworker suggested her doctor, Dr. Banks. She called Dr. Banks office and spoke to a nurse right away. They were very caring and wanted to help. They actually had a cancellation and was able to see Christine that week. This was the first sign she was where she needed to be.

A few months after losing the baby, Christine started bleeding pretty bad. So bad that it scared her enough to call the paramedics. Her vitals were ok and they suggested she go to the ER in Bham. Everything checked out so she went home. She did call the doctor to make an appointment to have this situation checked out. The day of the appointment, she was eating lunch and the bleeding happened again. Her clothes were soaked so when she got to the doctors office they had to get a wheelchair to get her in.

Dr. Banks did alot of research and finally determined what the problem was. Now, between him and another doctor in his practice they had only seen this in ONE other patient. Sign number 2 she was in the right place. She was diagnosed with AVM ( arterio vascular malformation). She had an artery in her uterus that was feeding ALOT of blood. When the mass of blood got to a certain point, it caused her to hemmorhage, thus the large amount of blood loss.

Luckily, the uterus has more than one source of blood flow. Dr. Banks would be able to perform surgery that would cut off the blood flow of that artery. He had not performed this surgery before but was confident. The risk would be that if he couldn't get the artery to quit bleeding they would have to take her uterus out completely. The day of the surgery, most of the family was there. I remember going to the chapel at the hospital and praying as hard as I'd ever prayed before.

The surgery was a success!!! Since this surgery was rare, her surgery was put in the New England Medical journal. How cool is that?!?!?

Had Christine not lost the baby, and with this medical condition, both she and the baby could have died. We could see maybe why this happened and could be thankful.

After healing from surgery, Christine became pregant again. Dr. Banks kept a close eye on her. He sewed her cervix shut at 13 weeks and was pretty much on bed rest from that point on. On September 20th, 2007 Christine gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Charli Nicole Roberson. Thank you lord!

I want to also add that during the time Christine was being diagnosed with AVM I kept hearing the story in Luke 8: 43-50. This was about the woman with a bleeding problem that was healed just by touching Jesus' cloak. I had a friend that knew about the problem and called me one evening with this same scripture. I knew again, that God would heal her and he did.

God's timing is perfect.

Miracle Baby - Charli

Christmas

Happy Birthday Jesus!

This is Christmas morning, the kids had birthday cake for breakfast.

Bailey and Reese making the cake.

Bailey and Reese

I thought I would post a picture of the cake we made. The kids really enjoyed having cake for breakfast! The Christmas Eve service was nice. Poor Denson only got to see about 2 minutes of it. Reese didn't last long at all!!

Bailey got up around 5:30 and luckily I was able to talk her into waiting another hour. I thought for sure Reese would be up by then but he wasn't! We went ahead and let her open her gifts. As soon as she was done Reese got up. It worked out better that way so we could video tape each of them. My Mom and Step-dad, and Denson's Dad and step-mom came over that morning. We had lots of fun and everyone seem to enjoy all the gifts they received!!

Eventful Day!!

About mid way through the day I had a couple of little stories I wanted to share. Around 5: 00 we went & grabbed something to eat from Milo's and headed out to look at Christmas lights....in the rain. That was ok, we had fun. We get home, I'm baking cookies, Bailey is sweeping the foyer and I hear her say, "Momma, Reese is throwing ornaments down the stairs!" I sorta rolled my eyes, and wanted to get one more batch of cookies in the oven before I attempted to get him to stop. But, I heard a loud bang and Bailey scream. I looked down the stairs and saw Reese's little red stool, and took off for Bailey. Denson reached her first. Her hands were covering her head at first but when she moved them, I saw blood. I didn't panic at first and thankfully Denson stayed calm. We got the blood contained and I went to move her hair and didn't like what I saw. That's when I lost it a bit. Denson and I looked at each other and he quietly said, "You need to take her to the doctor." Bailey flipped, saying she didn't want stitches. I get her in the car and off we go.

Oh, and Reese was put in his bed while we tended to Bailey. Denson said when we left Reese knew something was wrong. He had his bottom lip poked out and kept crying "Bayee".

I decided to take her to the Urgent Care in Trussville. Luckily they are open until 9:00 and we got there a little after 8:00. Bailey had to get 3 stitches and she handled it very, very well. Bless her heart!!

Now for my funny stories: Last night Reese was being quiet.......which is usually a BAD sign! I look in the living room and he is sitting on the couch with Bailey's tap shoes on and playing with a toy drill. I couldn't find the camera or else there would be pictures! I think he may be a little confused, or he hangs with his sister too much.

One more................

Today, he brought me a ribbon and apparently he thought it was a belt. I tied it around his waist in a bow. I told him to look in the mirror and he turned around (back side facing the mirror) and looked over his shoulder at himself. He looked just like me!!! I guess I check out that side more so than the front:) I couldn't wait to show Denson so when he got home we went through the same scenario and he did it AGAIN! Poor baby needs to spend a week with just Daddy.

Hopefully tomorrow will be less eventful or at least not ending with a trip to Urgent Care!!

Have you looked at the Moon lately?

Friday night, December 12th our power went off. Normally I wouldn't care but I was in the middle of making 310 sausage balls! I had already planned on going to the store to get tons of ice to put in the cooler to salvage all my hard work. Anyway, I looked out the window to see if our neighbors lights and street lights were off, and yep, they were. But, it was so bright outside!! I could see everything so easily. The moon was unbelievably bright. The power came back on and I continued cooking. At that point not thinking much about the moon I got online and there happened to be a story about the moon....how crazy. Last night the moon was the brightest and largest of 2008. Looking at it tonight, it is still pretty darn bright!

This made me think of the star in the east that led the Wise Men to Jesus after he was born. I can just see them walking in light, in the middle of the night. I wonder what was going through their mind? To know that the King of Kings had arrived!! It's easy for us to get excited, we've read about and seen the great things he has done, the lives he's changed, what he's done for us, but to not REALLY know...I just wonder what they thought. But at the same time, this STAR led them to Him. They didn't have a map, mapquest, or directions. So, I would imagine that being led directly to Jesus by a star,they probably did know this was a very special birth. In my study bible it says the star was not an ordinary star, planet or comet. Wow, that means it was probably way bigger and brighter than the brightest and largest moon of 2008.

Christmas is such a magical time of year, and it's not because of Santa :) I get teary eyed thinking of Jesus's birth. To know he was born to save the world from sin, and how grateful I am for that! My favorite part of the Christmas story is when the angel appeared to the shepherds. Luke 2 :10-12 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

I love that the angel gave them a sign that they would have no doubt this was Jesus. I love it now that we still get signs today. There is nothing better than confirmation, and the peace you receive when doing something you know God wants you to do.

Jingle Jam is tomorrow and I can't wait!! Bailey has done a great job rehearsing and maybe, just maybe I can get through the program without crying :)

Christmas Memories

Everyone has certain memories that come to mind around this time of year. I love reflecting and reading others' memories as well (thanks Meg!). Here we go:

My first memory is of my grandmother making candy for what seemed like weeks before Christmas. She made fudge, divinity and others that I can't clearly recall. I didn't like any of that stuff but it just seemed like home to see her in the kitchen.

When we were young we always went to to Nanny and PaPa's on Christmas Eve. I LOVED getting together with everyone and it seems that at the end of the party someone always pointed to the TV to show where Santa was at and we better get home and in the bed fast! I Sure miss those days and miss my PaPa!

Every year we had a real tree. When I say REAL tree, we didn't go anywhere to buy it, we walked in the woods behind our house and cut it down. It wasn't the best of trees some years but it was our tree. Also, it seems like most of our ornaments were homemade. (Do you remember that Karen?) I wish we could find those, but I'm sure they are long gone by now.

This one may not be a good memory, but it is a memory. The Christmas after our parents divorced was different. We all needed clothes and that is what we got. Christine broke down crying asking where the toys were. (Maybe that's why she married Micky, he has enough toys for all of us!) As a parent now, I know that was hard on my dad but he did the best he could. After all, we were still more fortunate than others, we may not have had what we wanted but we had what we needed.

Ok, enough of that, now for a funny one. My Aunt June went to work and left the Christmas decorating up to my Uncle Ricky. She got home and was impressed with what he had done. She looked towards the kitchen and she had these Santa shaped cups that spelled N_O_E_L......except that on this day they spelled L_E_O_N. She corrected the layout and my Uncle said "I was wondering who Leon was." To this day, when I see anything with Noel on it I think of them:)

We always had some much fun going to my Mom's for Christmas. We always had good food but I always looked forward to the shrimp dip, her homemade ranch dressing, and green onions. I've never had any of those 3 things that are better than hers. Also, we all, always had an envelope on the tree with some green in it!

I am ALL about traditions and starting them for my family. Denson always laughs and tells me what a dork I am. Deep down I know he loves it too! We read about the Birth of Jesus from the bible. We get to open one present. This year and years to come we will attend the Christmas Eve service at church. After that , we are coming home and baking a birthday cake for Jesus. Christmas morning, we will sing Happy Birthday and have cake for breakfast. I will be cooking a real breakfast too. I wish I were more creative but this works for us.

One more thing......I loved watching the Christmas cartoons that came on, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Frosty the Snow Man, and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Remember that back then you couldn't watch cartoons everyday, just on Saturdays and on Holidays.

That about it I guess............Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!!!

December 10, 2004

I just had a God moment and thought I would share. I was on the computer looking at the weather, and I starting thinking about Steven Spears. Steven was my step-dads nephew. I looked at the calendar and realized today was the 4 yr anniversary of his death. On December 10th, four years ago, many lives were changed forever. Steven was shot while driving he and his wife home from a birthday party.

I will never forget the moment I heard the news. We were actually at my sister Karen's house and had spent the night. As I was getting up she told me the news. I was shocked to say the least. My heart ached for his wife, mom, brothers and of course my step-dad. I remember going to the viewing and seeing a line around the church and out the door. I remember getting out of the car wondering how I would handle this, and actually feeling a sense of peace. That was odd to me because at that time Jesus was not my Lord and Savior. That was just the beginning of my journey.

A few days later, I was at work sitting at my desk, asking myself "Does God really exist? Is heaven real?" At that moment I felt an overwhelming urge to pray, which I did. Again, I was not a Christian so praying was not my thing. About an hour later God answered my prayer!! A co-worker, which I had not been friends with approached me and another girl. She started telling us about her Dad passing away about a month earlier. She told us about his visions of heaven. That was awesome, but the eye opener was, the things he saw were EXACTLY like a vision my PaPa had before he died. I fought back the tears and knew God was telling me "I am real, there is a place called Heaven and you better get on board!" My life as I knew it was changed forever.

I remember going home so excited to tell my husband about my experience. He wasn't much interested, because we had not been getting along and I don't blame him. However, a week later he says to me "Your serious aren't you, you've really changed." Thank God he was on board with me and we started attending church as a family. I could not get enough of reading the Bible!

Bailey was 3 at the time and had not been raised in church. Not too long after my life changing event, I felt an overwhelming urge to email my step-day because I knew he was still having a hard time. The whole time I was emailing him the tears were flowing!! Bailey came into the room and asked me what was wrong. I told her nothing, I was ok. She said "Are you talking about Jesus?" I started crying even more and told her yes, yes I was. How did she know who Jesus was? I was amazed at her and still today, she amazes me with the spiritual things she says.

I said all of that to say this......This day will always be a reminder that Steven is in heaven and missed by many. But I can also say that this is a great reminder of how God saved me! God is always trying to get our attention, we just have to listen. Sometimes we have to be at a low in order to hear him. God doesn't want any of his children to die an eternal death. Thank God for his grace, love AND for eternal life! I needed a reminder today of what He's done for me. Thank you Lord!!

First Post

So, it took me a little while to somewhat figure this out. It took me 40 minutes to figure how to add music....may be days before I post pictures:) A work in progress.

I have been so inspired by reading blogs lately. After everyone's in bed, and it's just me, I read blogs and I'm loving it! I have to say Bailey's 1st teacher, Mrs. Lowry got me interested. I started by reading her blog and then the blogs she had posted on her page. I have to admit, one afternoon, I sat for 2 hours reading "Bring the Rain", and I cried for most of those 2 hours.

It is so sad to hear of all the trajedy, loss, and just heartbreaking stories that happen more than we care for them to. It is probably rare that you find someone that hasn't been affected by a trajedy. I never knew how common miscarriages were until my sister had 2. Those were bad enough but the heartbreaking one was her water breaking at 19 weeks. I will post on the whole story later. God had his hand in the situation and protected my sister, which we didn't find out until later. My heart ached for her and I can only imagine how SHE felt.

II Corinthians 1:3-4 "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." When God comforts us, we are to use our experience to comfort others. I like the saying "Every Pain has a Purpose". What a blessing to be blessed, AND be a blessing to someone else!

I really feel like hearing these stories and seeing how God is working and how we truly draw strength from him....that is so encouraging! You never know what someone is going through, went throught, or will be going through. To know no one is alone in this walk is great.

My goal for this blog is to write about the ways God is working in my life and around me. I also feel like writing is therapeutic. With a 7 yr old and almost 2 yr old, I will probably post some of our comical stories as well. God is great and he makes all things new :)