Modern Medicine

On Friday, I had talked to one of my good friends' off and on all day. She had told me that she had been having contractions all day. She was only 31 weeks. I told her to go home and lay down to see if they would stop. At about 7:00 I was talking to her and she said she wanted a treat, but didn't want to get up to make any. Well, I had just made brownies, so I brought some to her, and when I got there she looked miserable. I told her we should go to the hospital. She didn't want to for fear of "looking" stupid if nothing was wrong. I told her it was better to be safe then sorry. Finally I had her convinced to go. We took her two darling girls to my house and headed for the hospital. When we got there, she was already dilated to a 5. I felt so bad for her. She just broke down in tears. The nurses gave her: steroids to help the baby's lungs develop, antibiotics for the baby to prevent infection, magnesium to try and stop labor, and saline to keep her hydrated. She was told that she wouldn't be leaving the hospital until the baby was born, whether that be in a day or in 6 weeks. She look horrified. I tried to reassure her that everything would work out o.k. But, being a mom I completely understood where she was coming from. Her DH finally arrived at about 11:30 p.m., so I left and went to help my DH. When I got home, he already (thankfully) had all 6 darlings tucked into bed.

Kendra called me the next morning to tell me that Santos David was born at 12:50 at 3lb. 6oz. and 17 inches long by emergency C-section. She was fine and Santos was healthy, except for his lungs being underdeveloped. The blessings of modern medicine!! I'm so grateful for the advancements that have been made in the medical field. If this event were to have taken place even 40 years ago, the survival rate would have been very slim. Santos is doing amazing. Yesterday he was taken off the ventilator, and is now only needing oxygen. He will be in there for about 7-9 weeks unless something goes amazingly well. I hope for the best for their dear little family. They are wonderful people and dear friends to me.

When I got home it made me think about the blessings in my life. While we've had our challenges in the medical field recently (S had a potentially cancerous birthmark removed in Aug. J had an umbilical hernia repair in Sept. I had a hysterectomy in Nov. S had a hydrocele repair in Mar. and DH blew out his knee in Mar.) we have all managed to come out well. I'm thankful for our health and for all that we have been given. Thank-you modern medicine!!