Nehemiah Emeth (foreground) and Jonathan Ransom. Born November 15, 2014
"And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Colossians 1:17
Dear Friends and Family,
Thanksgiving has come and gone this year, but for our family, the Thanksgiving season of 2014 will be one that we remember every year - and indeed all throughout the year - for the rest of our lives. We will remember it as a time when God chose once again to show us the depth of his love and mercy, and poured into our family the blessing of two more precious lives: Nehemiah Emeth and Jonathan Ransom.
Most of you are probably already aware that at twenty weeks, the twins were diagnosed with TTTS, or Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome, which you can read about in our previous blog entry "For Nothing Will Be Impossible With God." The outlook was not good, and yet God preserved them through everything, including a laser surgury in mid August, as well as many close calls as the pregnancy progressed.
For example, in mid October we had gone for a routine checkup at the OHSU hospital in Portland, and Geta started having a lot of contractions; she was only 29 weeks pregnant. After several days of monitoring and even some bleeding, everything stabilized and we were finally able to come home after a week. It was scary a little in the sense that we might have had to deliver then; but God is so good - he stopped everything so that the twins could have more time to develop and be more ready to be born.
Then, on the 14th of November - at 34 weeks of pregnancy - on another routine visit to the doctors (this time here closer in Salem), they discovered that one of the babies' feet were pushing down to the bottom of the womb on the umbilical cord. They informed us that this is a very dangerous situation in that if the water should break, one or both of the babies would be at serious risk of death. So they immediately sent us up to OHSU to be most likely delivered.
Again, God's sovereign hand of protection was upon the babies, and on the morning of November 15th, 2014, Nehemiah Emeth and Jonathan Ransom were brought into this world by c-section. They were immediately taken to the neonatal intensive care unit, and hooked up to machines that helped them breathe and gave them oxygen, as well as IVs, and a host of other monitors. The doctors and nurses there were always kind and helpful and it was a great experience there. Nehemiah and Jonathan received the best care, and made amazing progress.
In just two weeks and two days, on December 1st, they were released from OHSU, at which time they finally got to meet their big brothers Joseph, Elijah, and Jeremiah, as well as their big sister Ammishaddai. And on December 2nd, we all got to come home to be together as a family.
The doctors have told us that the twin that had the possible heart problem (Jonathan) does not have any problems, and will not need any further checkups for that. They have also cleared them to go on the airplane when and if the time comes.
God's amazing preserving hand has been so evident in all this time of the pregnancy, whether that was preserving the twins' lives, or providing for our family at every turn, we have so much to be thankful for. Thank you to each and every one of you who have been praying for us during this time, or watching our kids, or providing meals for our family, or any of a number of other things; God has used you to bless us in ways that are overwhelming. Thank you, we are so grateful.
As George Herbert, a 17th Century Anglican Poet wrote: "You have given so much to me. Give me one thing more - a grateful heart." Amen, may it be so!
This Thanksgiving season, though it has come and gone, will be one that is remembered by our family for the rest of our lives as a time to be so grateful, a true season of grace: a true Thanksgiving Miracle!
Longing for a truly grateful heart,
Andrew & Geta & family
