Over the past few day the phrase "Tender Mercies" keeps coming to mind. On Friday Night was the viewing for my Aunt Jenee who passed away after months of suffering from many different things. About halfway through the viewing I got a headache so bad that it was making me feel really sick and decided that I needed to go home. The drive home was very quiet and Jared dropped me off and went to pick up our girls from the Perry's who had taken them trick-or-treating (thanks again Jeff and Kristin). About an hour after I had been home the pain and nausea was so bad that I asked Jared to call my doctor. The doctor said to go to labor and delivery and have my vitals checked, and that I may have high blood pressure. So Scott and Marianne came to stay with the little ladies and we were off to the hospital, again not much was said on the drive. When we got to the hospital they checked my blood pressure and it was fine but I was having contractions every 2-3 minutes. The nurse was a little concerned considering I still have 6 weeks until my due date. She called my doctor and then gave me a shot to slow the contractions, sent me to the ER for something for the headache and nausea and sent me on my way.
The next day was my aunts funeral, I was still having contractions but not as often so I went to the funeral. At the cemetery I tripped in a hole and fell flat on my belly, it's okay to laugh about now I am sure the sight of a large pregnant lady flying through the air would be funny to watch. When I got up I was really disoriented and didn't know whether or not to tell people I was okay. As soon as the dedication of the grave was over I walked over to Jared and told him I needed to leave. On the way home contraction began again every 2-3 minutes, Jared called the hospital and they said I needed to get back there as quickly as I could. They gave me 3 more shots and contractions slowed down a little but didn't stop. They sent me home, told me to drink lots of water, relax, and that I probably would have continuous contractions for the rest of my pregnancy but to come back to the hospital it they became painful.
Sunday came and I was still having contractions pretty regularly but not painful so I tried not to worry about them too much. On Monday the contractions became really painful and really close together, I called the doctor and he said to go back to the hospital and get things checked out. My cute neighbor Ruth came and sat with the girls until my mom could get to my house. I got to the hospital and the contraction were strong and 2-3 minutes apart. 4 days in a row of strong contractions was making me really nervous that this baby was coming way too soon. There were so many questions I had about the baby and what he would have to go through if he didn't make it to 37 weeks. The nurse gave me 3 more shots, got me a prescription for some pills to take every six hours to slow the contractions, checked me to make sure I wasn't dilated, and sent me home to relax.
As I read Elder Bednar's talk again today and there are so many things he talks about as being tender mercies that have happened to me this past weekend. The first thing that made me think tender merc
