Canaan's Story (Part four) The diagnosis. This one is for my FABULOUS Dr. Dow!

James 5:14-16

"Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

This part of the story is still in the works. We still do not know why this happened but I like to keep things in order so, I will give an update on this chapter as soon as we know more.

I am so thankful that God knows me so very well. He knew that at times, I am a little hard of hearing, so he orchestrated a series of events that would change the outcome of my pregnancy and of Canaan's birth.

At 30 weeks, I went in for a routine checkup. I had been having my braxton hicks contractions and had very slight spotting so my doctor decided she wanted to do an ultrasound just to check my cervix. That still looked good, but she noticed that my placenta looked very low and scheduled an more extensive ultrasound at the hospital for the following week. She told me to come in should I notice anything out of the ordinary.

We live about an hour away from the hospital.

Two days in a row, I noticed I was having very regular Braxton Hick contractions and then there would be periods that the baby would just seem to be thrashing around. I told my mom and sister (poor things, they are always hearing my self diagnosis and I am always trying to diagnose them...it's an obsession of mine;) )

When I finally told Phil, he said that we should just go in since the Dr. had said to come in should I notice anything different. He offered to drive me in and I declined knowing that this was a bit silly and I would probably be coming home in a couple hours with a clean bill of health.

Well, long story short, I went in and my dear sweet Dr. sent me to the hospital just to be monitored.  My previous Dr. would have sent me home, but this sweet woman listens to her patients...I truly believe she loves each one of us!!   She came in a few hours later and said that she had run a protein test that came back negative meaning that 98.9% (or about that)  I would not go into labor for 2 weeks, but because I had 5 previous pregnancies and the fact that such minor things would bring me in, she felt she needed to keep me over night to monitor any change.

They gave me a sleeping pill to see if it would settle down my uterus.

30 minutes later, I was nudged awake.

She said she had a hunch and decided to run a special blood test. She was so very sorry, but that blood test came back grossly abnormal. The hospital I was in was not prepared to deliver a preemie, let alone one at great risk and so she would need to MERCY FLIGHT me to Gt. Falls about 115 miles away.

And so it began...

I remember when she left, I prayed, "Lord, help my reaction to this situation bring glory to You."

I felt it immediately...I had no fear, no doubt, no uneasiness...in place of those emotions, I felt complete gratitude for my nurses and Dr. I loved them...really, I felt love for everyone I came in contact with that night and I wanted to let them know. By the grace of God, I began thanking them for every little thing they did. When two nurses gave me 6 shots of Rogahm I said, "Thank you." When another nurse came in to give me a cathader, I said, "You did such a good job, Thank you." When they gave me magnesium and trebutaline (sp) because at that point labor set in, I was hot, shaking, nauseated and my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest I said, " Thankyou so very much, you are all so talented to know what to do in this situation...I am so grateful." I apologized to the Mercy Flight nurses for being such an inconvenience and began asking them about their families and told them to tell their loved ones, "Thankyou for sacrificing you to your work, and God bless them." Through out all the preparation for the flight, I would get a little boost in my mission to glorify the Lord when my Dr. would lean down and whisper little prayers and words of encouragement in my ear.

It was completely the Lord at work.

I even feel I should be placing "I" with "The Lord Jesus"...looking back, it didn't feel like me. Later, I looked up the words: strength, peace and joy. Look them up! This is His promise to us...He will give these gifts to His people. In God's mercy for me, He gave me those things. It was Christ in me and people began to notice.

Psalm 18:2

"The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;my God, my strenght, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower."

Psalm 29:11

"The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace."

I hope to be able to carry out this attitude even after this is all over. I want everyone to see Christ in me...I want my life to be a testimony even in the mundaine things.

Do you have people in your everyday life that you may pass by briefly? Someone you could say, "You are doing a great job...God Bless or Thankyou so much for all you do...God Bless You!" The drive thru, a co-worker, your child's teacher? How much would it bless their day to have such comments made? Let them know you care, Jesus loves them and help make their job not just a job!

When we landed in Great Falls, the flurry of activity only continued. They tried to stop labor to no avail. I met my Doctor and he finally explained to me what was happening.

The random, rare blood test that my doctor in Havre had performed he felt needed to be redone. It is an extremely difficult test to perform and he could not believe that the results could be true.

The 1st test results: The baby had hemorrhaged 40% of his blood into mine.

The 2nd test results: (After being performed by 2 sets of lab techs. to ensure exact results) The baby had hemorrhaged 60% of his blood into mine.

I heard the Dr. say, "We're not sure what will happen....the baby is at great risk....the survival rate is not so good...we need to take the baby now."

I also heard him say, "You have angels encamped around you...I see God in you...I feel for you as I feel about my daughter."

I kept the smile on my face and told him God had given me complete trust in him and to do what he thought was best. I thanked him and told him he was amazing. I called my Doctor in Havre. Even though it was after 5pm, I left a message to let her know that God was using her to work a miracle. I even threw in an I love you in my message. My Great Falls Doctor told me there was no reason for her to perform this test (I had no spotting and baby appeared to be healthy in all other areas). He couldn't understand why she did...but he was glad she did.
She allowed God to work a miracle through her!!

When I hung up the phone...it hit me.


A very sincere THANK YOU and GOD BLESS YOU and I seriously LOVE YOU ;) to my Dr. Dow...she may never know what peace and comfort she brought me that day...she laid a foundation of peace, control, God's grace and mercy that day that carried me through the entire trial.  My entire family and those who read Canaan's story will never forget the miracle God worked in our lives through her.  
Dr. Key assured me that had she not reacted the way that she did, we would not be holding our precious Canaan...alive.
She is the most humble of women, and will never take credit but Lord, she is a GODSEND!!!

My mom will be writing (well has already written Part 5). That will be coming today or tomorrow.