Our dear JV teammates here in Czech, Brian and Aleisha, found out they were pregnant with twins in the fall. We were all elated at their miracle, and further delighted to hear they were identical boys!
Then the news came that all was not well...they had TTTS, twin to twin transfusion syndrome. That's when I put that sign on my computer to remember to pray for the boys every time I sat down.
Another miracle occurred literally hours after they found out...Brian and Aleisha were able to go to Belgium to get help from one of the experts in the world who helps babies with this disease. He did an in-utero laser procedure in hope of saving the boys' lives. Then...they waited to see if it worked. (Here's their blog if you want to read their story)
Oh how we all prayed...for weeks, for months. Asking the Lord to save those boys.
And He did! The day before Easter, those precious boys were born at 34 weeks...alive, healthy, beautiful!
However, as it is with many preemie babies, they haven't come home from the hospital yet. Aleisha went home for a few days, but is now back at the hospital to be with them while they put on weight and figure out how to get the hang of eating!
Today I got to be Aleisha's translator and thus meet these sweet boys who so many have prayed for. Right now while the boys are still so little, only mom and dad are allowed to be with them, unless they need a translator. Then that person gets to be there as well. Hurray for good enough Czech skills to be the lucky translator today...I loved every minute of it!
This is Gabriel Roland...and his precious mommy!
And this is Alexander James with a very proud "aunt"!
This will be Aleisha's world for a while (though we pray it won't be for too long!). She is so brave to be in here when she doesn't speak much Czech (they just moved here a year ago). Thankfully the nurses are full of love and compassion, and do their best to communicate.
While we were in that room with the babies today, another little miracle occurred...can you see it?
It snowed...on May 3rd!! The crazy thing was...it just seemed appropriate to be holding little miracles, and watching another little miracle outside the window!
It is still snowing at almost 7 PM and our grass is covered in white. A good reminder that miracles do still happen! :)
I love this! I'm so glad you got to go see Aleisha and the boys. Our prayers were and still are being answered!!
ReplyDeleteWhat fun it is to hold a new baby or babies in this case! So glad you had the honor of being there!
ReplyDeleteI don't know much about twins, but I do know a lot about preemies! Please tell your friend that if she has questions, needs encouragement, someone to bounce thoughts off of or get some guidance, to please feel free to email me.
The preemie world is a different world with a different set of rules. It isn't like you leave the NICU and then viola everything is fixed. You deal with different issues, phases over time. I have a book called "The Preemie Parent's Companion" that was pretty helpful for me. I am also part of a online preemie support group just because living overseas there really isn't much support here in my native language anyway. I often bounce questions off of that listserv.
Always believe that God is in control and speak words of Life (God's word) over those boys!
Lori
Thanks for sharing this and the pictures, they are the miracles and I keep thanking God that He did this. So glad that you were able to go with Aleisha and give her encouragement and hold the little ones. Praise God that He is right where we are at!
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