Week 22: Home for the Holiday

A full week has passed since my last post, and I am happy to report that thus far, our little guy has stayed put in his mommy incubator. We were released from the hospital at the beginning of the week, and Tommi is now relaxing in her bed. It's a pretty comfortable bed, which is fortunate for TJ, because she will be spending the remainder of her pregnancy there (which we hope is at least another 10 weeks or so). The 4th of July is Tommi's favorite holiday, so we're crossing our fingers that we can see some fireworks from the bedroom window ... 'cause you know that with a pregnant wife on bed rest, there ain't gonna be no fireworks inside the bedroom, if you know what I'm sayin' (uncalled for, I know, but I couldn't resist).

OK, seriously now...

We've had several days now to ruminate on the questions I posed in the previous post. We are not naive enough to think that, in a week's time, we could learn all that God intended for us to learn from this experience. But Tommi pointed out a New Testament verse the other day that has embodied much of what we've seen over the past week: "... But we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope." (Rom. 5:3-4). We have certainly had some tribulation that has tested our patience, but that has also brought about some tremendous experiences of God's love and let hope take root. Two noteworthy examples:

• We have been overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of family members and friends. Both our mothers immediately jumped in to help with Grace, and enough of our siblings and close friends in San Diego have offered to come to San Diego or have Gracie visit them that we already have the next 6 weeks mapped out! Even more importantly, we have been humbled and touched by the prayers of so many who care for us (many of whom have commented on this board). It's hard to describe the strength we have felt as a result of those prayers, but please know how appreciative we are for your supplications on our behalf.


• We have also been so grateful for the "tender mercies" of the Lord that we have witnessed recently. I had a very time-consuming transaction at work that was completed just hours before Tommi got the orders to go to the hospital, and gave me the freedom to focus on my family instead of stressing over work demands. And, just two weeks before all this went down, we moved to a quiet La Jolla apartment that is 3 miles from the hospital and close to the ocean, so Tommi can get some nice ocean breezes through the bedroom window. Speaking of the bedroom window, I've attached a picture of the view of the San Diego temple we wake up to each day. If you've got to spend the whole day in bed, it's not too bad of a sight, is it?

Well, I promise to post updates at least weekly from here on out. I know these last two posts have been a little intense, so I appreciate you indulging us. I anticipate that future posts will be much more lighthearted, but we would feel unappreciative if we didn't share some of the thoughts and feelings that have buoyed us up over the past two weeks.

Till Week 23...