Relief!

God is good!

My, what a bumpy ride we have had the past two days! As if what we had already gone through was not enough!

Sunday afternoon, Jacqueline started bleeding and getting pain. She was due for a checkup on Monday, but sensibly decided to go into the labour suite at the hospital to get checked out by the midwifes on call. To her dismay she was told to stay in overnight. Being back in the hospital where we lost the baby was the last place she wanted to be, and caused her no small amount of distress. But she was assured it would mean she could get a scan first thing in the morning, and it was just routine.

Somewhere in the changeover of shifts, Jacqueline's situation was obviously not communicated, as a woman with a very troublesome labour was put in the room next to her, and kept her up half the night, and in the morning she was told she could not have the scan until 11:30am! The scan revealed that Jacqueline required a follow up procedure that would involve going under general anesthetic... and potentially another night in hospital! I don't know if it is possible to convey just how much anguish this news caused my poor wife!

As I sat on the bed next to Jacqueline, before she went in for the procedure. I comforted her, that this really was the last stage; after this we could escape far away from hospitals and have time to recover emotionally from all that had taken place.

The procedure should have only taken five to ten minutes; so after half an hour elapsed I got ready to welcome the bed carrying Jacqueline back to the room... an hour passed, and still she did not arrive. Then I saw the doctors striding past the door with concerned looks on their faces; no-one made eye-contact with me or said anything. At this point, I'm not ashamed to admit, I lost my peace, and became very anxious. I knew nothing should have gone wrong, but still it just didn't seem right!

After a incredibly long hour and fifteen minutes, the doctor came in to speak to me. She said the procedure had been a complete success, but during the time Jacqueline had been under the anaesthetic, her heart had developed an irregularity! They were keeping in the recovery room for further observations until a physician could examine her!

It was a heart-wrenching moment, to see the look on my wife's face when the doctor explained there was yet another complication and she would have to stay in hospital for another night, and await another doctor's assessment for what further treatments she would need!

It took two hours for this doctor to arrive, but as soon as he did, our situation changed! He explained that although he was the doctor on call, he was also a Registrar Cardiologist, and so we were getting immediate expert opinion. He had an excellent bedside manner, and was very professional, and sympathetic and considerate of what we had been through. He looked at Jacqueline's ECG and said it was nothing to worry about. It was perfectly within normal parameters for someone who was in a great deal of anxiety and stress. After questioning Jacqueline further about her medical history, and running another ECG, he declared that there was no risk, and we were free to go home!

How to describe the relief and joy of that moment! How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news! How wonderful it is when a man or woman with presence and authority announces good news to those who are in despair and sorrow! (How precious is the good news we carry to the lost!) How good God is to us that he sent us this man, this expert, at just the right time, and spared us from further anguish and another night in hospital. We are all home now. Praise God!