Albuquerque

The first two days of Jude's life were incredibly traumatic for us.  I will never forget feeling imprisoned by the C-section as the doctors gave me a split second glance at my newborn baby boy in distress before he was rushed to the NICU.  I will never forget the next day as we were sitting on my hospital bed as the images from the MRI results were handed to us.  I will never forget sitting on the ambulance dock in my wheelchair as the ambulance drove away carrying my husband and my baby...unsure if he would even make it through the transport.

All these events occurred in a large hospital that is situated along an interstate we drive regularly.  If Jude had died on that second day of life, our memories of that hospital would have remained predominantly traumatic.  I would have dreaded seeing that large hospital each time we came upon it.  I think I would have strongly disliked Albuquerque.  Instead, our baby lived, and the city became his home.  He lived, and he opened his eyes, and he gave us so many sweet, sweet moments.  And, he received many, many kisses in return.  :-)

So, we look at that hospital very differently now.

A few weeks ago, I shared in this post that we were returning to Albuquerque to visit the staff we loved so much at Presbyterian.  We had planned to leave the day after Thanksgiving.  It didn't happen.  The idea of returning to the hospital weighed so heavily on me that I felt sick to my stomach all that holiday.  I decided I wasn't ready.  So, we headed south instead and bought Jude's chest.

But, tonight we came back.  We are here only briefly as we travel up north, but we are heading over to the hospital in the morning...after grabbing breakfast with one of our wonderful nurses.  Would you please pray for us as tomorrow we return to the place of his birth, life, and death?  Please pray that the Lord would draw us near to Him as we visit the place and people so connected to our little guy.

As we drove by tonight, this verse came to mind:  

Blessed are those who mourn,

for they shall be comforted.

Matthew 5:4