Quiet House

I’m home alone for a little while. We have had an exciting couple of weeks around here.

First I found out Two weeks ago today that I was pregnant. Don’t get too excited there’s more to tell. Kris and I were both sort of numb about the news and because it was a surprise and not planned we were warming up to the idea slowly. That Weekend I began experiencing some incredible pain and talked to my midwife who recommended I get an ultra-sound whenever I can find the time. I had Scrooge to think about over the weekend and I had company coming the day after Christmas so I just didn’t really want to do it until after things had settled down. I prayed and felt that God was in control of whatever was going on and I didn’t feel that an ultra-sound would change anything. Scrooge was over that Sunday morning and I was doing as much as I could on Monday and Tuesday to get ready for company. The pain would come and go and I was just praying that God would give me strength to deal with it. I was very emotional as you can imagine and it was difficult to remain at peace. Tuesday afternoon I noticed that my left side seemed to hurt more than the rest of me. I waited, hoping it would just go away, but by 9:30 I was starting to get a little nervous about it. I called Kathy, my midwife, and she said that it could be dangerous and that I was to go to get an ultra-sound right then.

To make a long story short…we found out late that night that we had a tubal pregnancy. There is no way that the baby can survive in such cases and mine was already beginning to be dangerous for me. I was admitted to Summit hospital that night and had surgery to remove the tube the following day at noon. Everything went well, except that the tube had ruptured sooner than they had thought and I experienced a lot of internal bleeding. I was told to stay another night in the hospital. Thursday morning amidst the ice and snow, Kris drove me home. We welcomed Owen, who had been staying with my sister Becky, home the next night and Kris’ parents and his Meema (grandma) arrived on Christmas night. (They are still here but are all out right now so that I can nap…but I’m typing instead) The next day was Sunday and we woke to news of trouble in Asia…big trouble. A mammoth earthquake under the sea had caused tidal waves to wreak havoc on coastlines all over Asia. The worst of it for us, was that my youngest sister, Kristy Hall, her husband, baby and all her in-laws were vacationing in Thailand, where tsunami’s had killed hundreds of people…many of them tourists. With no way to communicate with them I didn’t know if they were dead or alive when we left for church on Sunday morning. I’ve never felt so strange as I did that morning. It would take way too long to try to explain my emotions and thoughts. Needless to say I worshiped my God with fervor and relished the peace He loves to give. After lunch on Sunday we got a call from a friend of their family saying she received an e-mail from someone that none of us know saying simply: “The Hall’s are safe.” Since then we have received two short e-mails from them and we are thankful that they are safe and will be home soon. They were staying on Ko Lanta Island, Krabi, Thailand and were affected by the waves but unhurt.

If you would like to read a more detailed account of the surgery please click here. I will also post more about my sister’s experience when I have more information.