Having Jimma home was such a mixture of emotions!! Overjoyed because she was finally here...in my arms!!..perplexed because I had no idea what was wrong.....worried and not understanding why I was worrying...frustrated with myself more than anything...but, through it all, the knowledge that Jesus was 'ever-present' was so strong...so..real!!! I'm now and forever grateful for His mercy and grace!!....without Him, we would never have got to know our Jimma...and I really want to share with whoever will listen just what a wondrous God I serve!!...what He has done for me, He will surely do for you........just ask Him and believe.....ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE!!!!!!!.....
Soooo.....we finally brought our Jimma home from the hospital!!! Her temperature wasn't staying up. I didn't know then that a low body temp in a newborn was indicative of problems like those in older folks with elevated temps. And here we were..home.....Kristin had a long road ahead of her, recovering from the c-section and especially the emotional toil of her troubled pregnancy. Jimma and I spent long hours together. Getting her food into her was a constant battle!.....and keeping her wrapped up good...to keep her warm and her body temperstre up!!....I found it necessary to heat her blankets in the microwave to warm them up for her..it really seemed to help her tiny body to relax.........
Since Jimma's development of a high bilirubin level, she had to be checked regularly by a nurse and was given a biliblanket to use at home. What a sight!!! ...this tiny little person glowing in the bright blue warmth of this strange-looking contraption...but you all know that you'll do whatever it takes to help a loved one get better.....right? ...rocking...feeding...changing....loving...all the 'normal' things anyone would do... Then came the morning of her fifth day, I couldn't get her to take any of her 2am feeding at all.....her formula just seemed to run out of her mouth....and her little body...growing limp..what was wrong? ..... All I knew to do was pray....then heard that o' so familair voice softly say, 'feed her drops of sugar-water'.....WHAT?......"Get a dropper and feed her sugar water!" Finally, her nurse arrived....after checking her out, the nurse told me that she believed Jimma was only 'presenting like a preeme'......My agonized plea was to please just humor a worried old grandma and call her doctor.....
At the doctor's office.........No time for an ambulance!! No time to get her to Charlotte......Quickly take her to Frye, he said, don't take time to stop by the house to pick anything up!!!.....The doctors would be ready for her when we arrived!!.........and what a dreadful trip it was!!!!! I sat in the back seat ... praying .. holding her close .. begging for her life...........Then we arrived.........at the hosptal..again...
As the nurse took my baby from my arms.....my heart seemed to faint inside my chest.....Jimma's body was so limber 'lethargic and nonresponsive' were the drs. words.....the doctor began prodding her.....needles in her arms....needles in her head...and no response from her...he lifted her hand...lifted her foot...only to have them drop solidly to the bed!! So many questions.. and the answers ..a few at least.. were far down the road..... But for now, the doctor said the sugar water had sustained her life thus far.......isn't that just amazing?........see what God can do?.......if only we will listen?!!........
But our life with Jimma wasn't always troubles...there were also the awesome thrills and unequaled joys of having a brand new family member!! News spread that our new baby was home and, of course, visitors came to be introduced.......Jimma had her first bath.......each individual family got to know her a little better...and to love her more.....she was fed around the clock.....watched closely........pretty much just like any new baby...except......except what, I just did not know......
