Answers to prayer

Well, since it is 6:30 A.M. and apparently my body is done sleeping for the day even though I don't need to be up for hours, I decided to update Max's blog. Yesterday I got a fantastic voice mail that really changed my day and made me start thinking about answered prayers. When we realized that we were pregnant with Max, the ordinary fears began to spark up in me about miscarriage and overall diabetic health. Throughout my journey with diabetes, I have always encountered struggles with my kidneys. If you have ever seen the movie Steel Magnolias, you probably remember that Julia Robert's character had insulin dependent diabetes and had weak kidneys so doctors advised her to not have a baby. She went against their suggestions and had one anyway leading to kidney failure and eventually her death.

I have never been told by doctors not to try to conceive because to be honest, I probably would have listened just because there is no point in having a baby just to leave that baby here with no mother. Although that is true, I've always known that my diabetes being out of control always hit me square in the kidneys. This was not surprising to me when we heard from the doctors that they were leaking protein and may cause me to have a difficult pregnancy. We heard this news in the first trimester and began to take action which included getting put on the insulin pump (I affectionately call Pumpkin) and praying like we were getting paid to.

The way that they monitor how my kidneys are doing is by collecting 24 hrs of urine and checking my creatine levels to determine kidney function. We got the results of the second trimester screening yesterday and sure enough not only were my kidneys stable in their protein leaking but actually had made improvement and my creatine levels were (as the nurse said) PERFECT. I have never heard any good news about my kidneys in over 16 years so this is by far my Thanksgiving miracle. We have so much to be thankful for this year including Max and his upcoming arrival, my health getting so much better, and just having a God who loves us and answers our prayers for peace through a difficult journey.

As Anthony snores in our bedroom and I sit up with pregnancy insomnia, I will try not to complain, be annoyed, or even grumble because after all...this is what I prayed for.

Thanks for stopping in and for your prayers

Erica & Anthony