A Precious Miracle

Oh what joy! A long story leads up to the best gift we could have asked for!

At 29 weeks and 5 days I woke not feeling good, i felt a lot of pressure and just felt off. I decided to go down to the Dr. to make sure everything was okay since Danny was driving down anyway to go to work so I rode down with him. When I got to the Dr. he checked me and was very worried, I had dilated to 3 cm and was 70% effaced and he could feel a lot of pressure. He checked for a heartbeat and it was still strong, thank God! He decided to send me to Labor & Delivery to be monitored. I was put on the monitors and baby was fine, but I was contracting like crazy so they decided to keep me in the hospital. 29 weeks is WAY too early! I was given a steroid shot to mature the baby's lungs in case he was born and an IV was started. I was also put on Procardia to help calm the contractions down. I ended up staying for 4 days and then they released me on bed rest and medication.

I layed in bed for 7 weeks, praying our little man could stay in  until he was full term. I had a Dr. appointment every week to make sure I wasn't further along though I continued to have small contractions almost constantly.At me 35 week appointment I was told I had progressed to 4cm and 80-90% effaced but to continue to wait, and he also had told me to stop the medications at 36 weeks.

On Saturday January 21st I was 35 weeks 6 days pregnant and decided to just stop the medicine that night. At 7:57pm I began having very very very painful contractions. We tried taking a walk since that stopped them previously but they got worse. At 9:55pm they were so bad we decided to go to the hospital. Danny drove like a mad man while I screamed and his mom tried to comfort me =). We got down to the hospital in 35 minutes which usually takes 50 minutes. When they got me to triage the nurse checked me and hooked me up to monitors and I was now 6cm and 100% effaced!!!! When the nurse said "You're having a baby!" i was so freaked but excited, he was coming!! I was put into a delivery room and immediately given an epidural (truly a blessing from the Lord!) and an IV and watched for a while. Around 11pm the nurse checked me again and i was at 8 cm and baby was lower. At 2am nothing had progressed so they gave me some pitocin to hurry the progress. Danny and I had finally fell asleep around 6:30am when all the sudden I wake up to 5 nurses in my room calling frantically for the Dr. to come in and they are telling me to push. I start to panic because they won't tell me what going on and I am still half asleep. I can't push very well because my legs are too numb and when they Dr. gets in she tells me to wait, she watches the monitor and says "its going back up." The nurse finally tells me that I am now 9.5cm and baby doesn't like it, his heart rate dropped from 175 to 100 and just stayed there but now it was back up. The Dr. watched him for about 15 minutes and decided to not go forward since he was okay now. I was terrified and just prayed with all my heart.  Around 8:10 am they checked me one last time and said that it was time to push!! And by the grace of God I could slightly feel my legs enough to give a really good push. I could hear the baby's heart beat on the monitor so that really calmed me down.

I pushed for 17 minutes and Liam Daniel Capper was born! January 22nd 2012 was a great day! My prayer since the beginning was that I would hear him scream immediately after he came out. As soon as the Dr. put him on my chest he screamed and I praised God!!! What a beautiful, precious miracle Liam is!! A few minutes later they took him and cleaned him up and weighed him- he was 5 pounds 7.2 ounces and absolutely gorgeous!! They said he needed to go to the NICU for observation for a few hours, which broke my heart but I understood, they wanted to make sure all his vitals were normal and everything was okay since he was 4 weeks early. Danny got to carry him over there and stay with him. When Danny came back to my room he said Liam was doing pretty good but he wasn't able to keep up his blood sugar so they were going to keep him. He is now home and in my next post I will share about our 6 day, very emotional NICU stay. I love being a mommy. It is inexoressible how in love with Liam I am. Its such an example of how much MORE God loves us.

My face was so giant because of the fluids...

Part 3 & The Future

I can honestly say I am still healing from the loss of our child but God is our wonderful Healer.

About a month later, around the 15th of June I was actually feeling the same way I had been right before I took the previous pregnancy tests but thought its probably the hormones going away still? Out of the tiniest sliver of hope, knowing I was probably about to let myself down in a big way I decided to take another pregnancy test. Danny wasn't home this time which was fine because I knew it would probably be a long time until we would be pregnant again. I took it and waited, I could see nothing, it was negative, devastated for some odd reason I left it on the counter and went on my way. Grasping at any hope I could find I went back 10 minutes later and looked again. At that point there was an EXTREMELY light line telling me I was pregnant, BUT I truly thought it was just from left over hormones from the miscarriage. I called Danny and was crying because I didn't know what to do, he agreed it was probably left over hormones and said I should just call the Dr.

I called and talked to a nurse and told her the whole story and she says, "Hunny, when you have a D & C the hormones are gone within the first week, there is no way there are left overs over a month later, Congratulations sweetie, you ARE pregnant!!!" I cried. I praised my God, and I prayed. I was TERRIFIED. The nurse immediately made me an appointment for the next day to watch me closer than before. I immediately called Danny crying and told him. Like me he was very reluctant to be excited but we prayed.

The Dr. appointment went well, and the baby was about 5 weeks 6 days and had a great heart rate. It looked like a little jelly bean and I just prayed and prayed while they looked at it on the ultrasound. Everything went well the next 3 weeks and in early July I had plans to be in California to be in my friend's wedding. I was so excited! Being out there would be a nice opportunity to visit with friends and family which I was really looking forward to.

After a few really really nice days spending time with my mom and dad I woke up and went to the restroom, only to find that I was bleeding. COMPLETELY devastated and a mess I screamed for my mom and told her. She said lets get you to the hospital now and we told my dad and left. I was so sad. I prayed a lot on the way and called Danny to tell him. He was so sad. He was actually at Bible Study at that time and said he would be praying and to call ASAP when we found anything out. I wanted him there so badly. I was admitted and the Dr. immediately ordered an ultrasound. I was so nervous but I knew my God was in control and I can say I did trust Him with this. As the lady did the ultrasound, at first they don't let you see it just in case the baby has died, but right when she turned the screen to me I knew the baby was ok! She said "Look, there's your baby's heart beat!" She couldn't tell me much more and brought me back to my room.

I told my mom the baby's heartbeat was still there and I saw a flood of relief on her face. The Dr. came in and said the baby was still doing ok, but that there was a tear in the tiny placenta, and that it was serious, because the baby was so young, about 9 weeks, he wasn't sure if it would be ok or not. We ended up leaving and I called Danny and told him. My mom and I agreed that the safest place for me was home in Colorado with my hubby and my Dr. We scheduled my flight out for the next morning and I had a Dr. appointment at my Dr. later that day.

My sweet friend who was getting married in just a few days was so sweet and understood. I landed back in Denver the next morning and we went straight home. I layed down all day until we left for my Dr. appt. The Dr. did another ultrasound and saw that baby was still doing ok. He was concerned about the tear and said if the baby does make it through this we would have to watch closely to see if the tear affects it later down the road. I asked him if there was anything we could do,and his response? "Pray, only God is in control here." What a true statement and a blessing to hear from a Dr. The Dr. scheduled me for another ultrasound 2 weeks later to check on baby's progress. The next two weeks were very hard for us. It was a point where we realized that the life inside me, and our previous baby are not our own. They belong to God and are fully His. He can do whatever He wants and we have to remember His promise in Romans 8:28 "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose."

At the next appt. the ultrasound came back very good, the bleeding stopped and the baby's heart rate was much stronger and it looked like baby was growing pretty much on schedule!! I cried for joy and thanksgiving to God! The Dr. did see the tear and said we would continue to watch it as well as what they called a synichiae- a small piece of scar tissue protruding out from the edge of the uterus which wasn't causing any issues yet since baby was so small. The Dr. also said that when I reached 12 weeks the risk of miscarriage goes way down and at 14 weeks even more so. He was very hopeful!

We slowly let our guard down as we reached 14 weeks and another ultrasound revealed everything was going well and I wasn't having any complications! We finally decided to announce the pregnancy on our anniversary, August 11th. (Our parents knew the day after we found out as well as a few close friends that were praying for us).

The Dr. finally decided that my pregnancy would be considered normal now that everything looked great, the tear wasn't affecting the baby! And the synichiae was just something we would keep an eye on. At 19 weeks we went in and had an ultrasound and Dr. appt. We were going to find out the sex of the baby! Just seeing the baby for the first time look like a miniature baby was indescribable! Tear poured out as the nurse measured the baby and said everything looked perfect! She then revealed that we were have a BOY!!! The look on Danny's face was of pure excitement, joy, shock, thankfulness and it made me cry to see him so incredibly happy! We were going to have a SON!!!!! Danny's parents came with us and they were also elated! The Dr. appt went well and the Dr was very pleased with how the baby looked and said the synichiae was still there but still not yet affecting him.

Since then I am now 29 weeks pregnant with our son, whose name will be Liam Daniel Capper. He is getting big and I love feeling him move! Its like God's way of comforting me that the baby is doing well. The last ultrasound my mom was able to come to which was extremely special. The nurse did a 4D picture of his face and I swear he looks just like Danny! We will keep you posted on the pregnancy as I get closer to labor and delivery! Also the Dr. said that the synichiae was completely gone....what? Oh praise our God!! Scar tissue was gone? Only God can do that!!!!

Part 2

Welcome back! Here goes more of our story. Get your tissues ready!

So 4 months after I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease I was doing very well on the medication I was taking. It was April 22nd (the day before Danny's Birthday) and I woke up earlier than normal because I just didn't feel right. I had been feeling this way for about a week, but not bad enough to worry. I decided at 5:45 am that I would take a pregnancy test. First of all, let me back up.

We were told about 2 years before this that we would need to pursue fertility treatment to get pregnant and have a healthy baby. We were so sad to hear this and decided after lots of prayer and talking together, NOT to pursue fertility and force the issue.We knew our God was bigger than any anatomical,or health issue so we dropped it.

So for me to think "I'm going to take a pregnancy test" I thought at the same time, "I'm wasting money doing this!". I had taken so many just a couple years before with always a "Negative".
I fought myself for a good ten minutes before I just thought "why not?"So I took it, and then regretted it as I went on my way getting ready for work. They only take UP to 3 minutes but I took a shower and then about 15 minutes later decided to take a look, knowing it would be negative.

OMGosh......are you kidding me?!! THE TEST WAS POSITIVE!! IT SAID "PREGNANT"!!!! I freaked. I couldn't breath. I was SHOCKED to say the least. I screamed which woke Danny up and his first though- she's late for work. I ran into the bedroom, jumped on the bed and said "I'm PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The look on Danny's face was priceless. Confusion, sleepiness, and more confusion. I showed him the test and he was speechless. He started to smile a little and then said, "oh man, you ARE pregnant!" After some more celebrating and waking up we were still just as shocked. I immediately remembered I had to get to work but really? After this news I wanted to shout from the rooftops!!!

Later that day, I called the Dr.and scheduled my first appointment and we decided to wait a couple days until Easter to tell Danny's parents. We told mine on Skype the next day. They were so excited!

We did a lot of praying and thanksgiving to God for doing a miracle, and knew it was God alone that could have made this happen. We were excited and still shocked to say the least. My first Dr.appointment went well and the Dr. said all looked good so far. Even at only 6 weeks pregnant we were able to hear our child's heartbeat. How good is our God!!?

On May 7th, I had some weird symptoms that were bad enough to cause us to go to the emergency room. We were really still shocked from finding out we were pregnant and very overwhelmed because of some bleeding I was experiencing. After tests and an ultrasound the Dr.told us the devastating news that our baby had died. I had had a miscarriage. I cry even now as I write this, the pain of losing a baby is severe, and uncontrollable. I cried on Danny's shoulder for what seemed like eternity, and wondered why? This had been such a miracle, why did our baby get taken away? Deep sadness I had never experienced before, anger, and loneliness were just some of the emotions I was dealing with.

I must say, the healing process is still going on, and that the answers to the questions I asked even at the hospital, I already knew them. My God is God. He created all, and my life, Danny's life, our child's life is NOT ours, it belongs wholly to our good and gracious God. I truly can say that even in the darkest moment when we first found out we lost the baby, I knew my God is ALWAYS good. I prayed, and prayed the He would receive glory through the miscarriage we endured, and I can say He has. I am, in no way, saying it was easy, or that I wasn't mad, I WAS, but God has layed the foundations of my faith and relationship on Him and I DO trust Him, even though I don't understand. Our God is ruler over His creation, and loved us enough to send His Son to die on the cross for our sinful souls.

Not sure who might read this but some things that really helped during my healing time? Right after we got back from the hospital I did NOT want to talk to ANYONE, NO ONE, not even my family. I would barely talk to Danny. Danny was so sweet, and I thank God for his persistence to pray and do devotions with me, even though I cried through all of it. Hugs, and walks REALLY helped (Danny had to make me and I am SO glad he did) until I was able to talk to other people. Praying was essential, I was honest with my God about being angry but knowing He was in control and knew what was best for me. If you have ever gone through a miscarriage, know this, God is a good and gracious God, and through prayer, time, and God's healing hand there is hope!

The Biggest Trial/Blessing Ever Part 1

Lets just jump right in, shall we? The past....2 years have been.....amazing, sad, unbelievable, sanctifying,....most of all, Christ-filled. Let's start with last November.

I started having horrible stomach pain in November of 2011, and decided after some very concerning episodes to get an appointment with a gastr0enterologist. Went to see her and after an upper GI- where they go down your throat with a camera and who knows what else- they found out I have Acid Reflux Disease. Okay, don't eat too late at night before bed, nothing too spicy and lots of milk/ Tums, I can do this! So after that I was doing pretty well, until well, January.
One night I started having some pain in my right lower abdomen. Thought nothing of it because it wasn't too bad. After 2 days of the pain slowly getting worse I got worried when trying to get up to take the dog outside I couldn't get up..... I called Daniel who was at work and he told me to call the Dr. I did so and they said it could be my appendix and to go to the ER right away.....Oh MAN! I hate that place.....Daniel took me in and they decided to do a CAT scan to find out if it was my appendix, all the nurses and Dr.'s were sure it was and even called the on-call surgeon to be ready to take it out.

After the CAT scan the Dr. came back in very surprised, he told us my appendix was fine and that a section of my intestines was very inflamed and because of the amount of pain I was having with it he was going to keep me...yes ADMIT me into the hospital....NOOOOOOO! So the stay was 3 days long with lots of yucky tests and pokes and beeping.... I was finally diagnosed with Crohn's Disease. How overwhelming it was. I am only 23 years old!!??

To say I was overwhelmed was and under statement. The only way to get through this, and the feelings of why? I am too young to have an autoimmune disease, how will this affect my life? was to trust in my ever present, all-knowing, good, gracious, merciful and loving God. The foundations of my faith were that God is the maker, giver of life and this was the first step in my learning that this life is NOT my own! What a humbling thing to learn. It truly has been the biggest thing God has taught me so far and extends into EVERY part of my life and relationships. My life is HIS, Daniel's life is HIS. Its actually comforting and a little scary all at the same time. To believe that my own life belongs fully to God I have to also trust him in EVERY part of my life.

Lots of people were so encouraging though, God is good, and if this is the worse that happens, Praise GOD!

I ended up going on these giant, (2 full inches each) horse pills and I had to take 2 ever 4 hours, yeah crazy! They seemed to help quite a bit, so I took them every day for 4 months....until.......

The next post will tell the next chapter...oh man.

Shutterfly Christmas Cards

Hello! So this year we decided to get our Christmas cards through Shutterfly! I am soooo excited! They came out really cute this year! Everytime we have used Shutterfly we have not been disappointed. We aslo used shutterfly for our wedding sign-in book (turned out beautifully) and for our album! We LOVE it! If you would like to see all the gorgeous and fun designs for their Christmas stationary go here www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-invitations . We can't wait for all of our family and friends to get them! We were also thinking of possibly doin a calendar for 2011 let us know what you think! Here's the link- www.shutterfly,com/calendars/wall-calendars . Anywas, we decided on a beautiful brown and red design that goes well with the picture we picked...but sorry! No looksies! It's a surprise! And last but not least we MIGHT pick this super cute photo mug for someone's gift! You know who you are =) www.shutterfly.com/photo-gifts/photo-mugs . Enjoy and check out Shutterfly.com you won't be disappointed! Bloggers! Here is a link to get 50 FREE cards if you share about Shutterfly on your blog! http://bit.ly.sfly2010 !

Hello!

Hi everyone. As usual lots of exciting updates! Since last time there is a ton more going on! Let's start with Danny. He was one of 8 people to be chosen to start the Fire Academy early!! He started about 2 weeks ago. Its a lot of studying and physical ability but Danny is really enjoying it. We just got back ( well like 3 weeks ago) from CA. We went there for Roderick and Emily's wedding which was really beautiful. We had a ton of fun. We stayed with my parents and David and Milena stayed there too. I, yesterday, ran a half marathon!!! It was up in Boulder and was awesome. Its 13.1 miles. I really enjoyed the challenge, and will definitely do it again!

Updates!

Hello! So since last time we posted an update Danny has become a firefighter!!! YES!!! A real working firefighter....I don't think there are fake ones but you know. Praise God!!!! He was hired onto Franktown Fire Volunteer District!!! He is going through training now and starts his actual shifts next week! He is loving it a ton! He goes to their academy next Spring. Its amazing what God does in His timing! Anyways, Dave and Milena are down, well they left today for Hawaii but we had a very fun time visiting with them and they will be back in 2 weeks. I am working in the back (with the animals) at work a little here and there and I am loooooving it! WE are praying to see if its something I want to pursue head on or just the way it is. We are leaving for CA on August 25th! We are excited and we are driving out there and taking Spike. It should be interesting! Danny's friend Rodderick is getting married on the 28th and we are excited to go!!! Welll not much else!

Hello

HI! Its not very often we update this anymore, we're busy and I guess Facebook has kinda taken over! But anyways lots of updates in our life, we are now attending Reverence Bible Church down in Colorado Springs and its such a blessing! God is using the small church to bless Danny and I in huge ways! Sometimes we go down there Saturday afternoons and sleep over a t the Hull's which is so fun, we bring Spike and him and their golden retriever Dexter play the whole time. We'll take some pictures next time of the two of them, its cute. What else?.... Oh Danny took the Denver Regional Council of Governments (Dr. Cog) test for firefighting and we learned this morning he got 84%!!! So thats exciting, now we just wait, his test score is put on a list thatmore than 10 cities use to hire new firefighters! Also, back a few months ago,Danny sent in an application to Franktown Fire Volunteer station and they called him in for a ride-along; he went to that and loved it then about 2 weeks ago they sent a letter for him to come back for an interview!! So on Saturday he got all spiffy and went to the inteview, he said it went great and it was really fun! So we will see, he is now awaiting a phone call! Oh wow, AND he is coaching a boys 13 year old soccer club team, its gonna be very fun, the club is called Colorado Elite.

We are planning on going out to California in August, we are actually driving and bringing the dog....it will be interesting!!! We leave at 2:00 on the 25th and hopefully get there by early on the 26th, on the 28th is one Danny's good friends' wedding and then after the wedding we are hoping to go down to San Diego for a mini vacation! It should be very nice!! Anyways, I think thats it right now! Life is good because God is soooo amazing!

Fun!

So I am not sure where I left off last time but we went to California for a few days which was ssoooooo nice! We caught up with friends and family which was a huge blessing and got to go on the hottest weekend they have had so far! We left DIA during a "winter storm" and were one of only four planes they let leave because of the snow! Praise God!! We had a great time and miss our family and everyone back home! But when we got back to Co the weather was much more "springy" =). We have been celebrating lots of birthdays- My dad's and Kiana's on April 16th, Daniel's and Uncle John's on April 23rd and my aunt Joan's on April 22nd..... hope I am right!!!!! =) Anywas we have a few pics!

Spike has been great, though he did eat a Red Hot Chili Pepper's CD...I guess he didn't like them....hes got a bad taste in music =) But we are enjoying having him, the cats are starting to like him too! But thats all for now!

A gigantic Update!

So we took a ....long...tooo long break from here..... Not too sure why. But anyways whats been going on? Well the first update we will start with is Daniel's firefighting. He applied to the Franktown volunteer station and has his ride-along (part of the interview process) on April 6th! Praise God! His timing is perfect! Daniel is very excited. He is still playing soccer regularly on Sunday and Monday nights and is loving it! I am still at the Animal Hospital and loving that!

We are going out to California on April 17th-21st and we can't wait!!!! Derick and Carrie Hull (Derick is the Pastor that married DAnny and I) and they are our very close friends have moved down to the Springs to start Reverence Bible Church of Colorado Springs! Its so fun having them here!!!!

We also have added a member to our family!!! Not a human but a dog! He is a 7 month old boxer puppy named Spike! We had always known we wanted a dog at some point but never really thought about jow much we wanted one until just lately. Danny goes running often and needs a running buddy and we love hiking and taking walks. We first wanted an Alaskan Malaute....but they shed way too much and are too big so then Danny thought what about a boxer? We did some research and found out they are really great dogs! We looked on Craigslist but were pretty weary about who the dog came from and if it was healthy. God brought us the best dog!!!! He has been very good, and entertaining!! Here are some pictures!

Hello!