Blessings from the Couch

The last 3 weeks of June were spent in an intense writing institute that is required for all K-12 ELA teachers in our district.  It was super hard getting past the fact that it was summer and I was stuck in a training, but I honestly learned a lot of fantastic writing techniques that I can implement into my particular job.  During the duration of the training, we were required to write 2 papers; one for our Anthology book and one to submit to be published.  I have always considered myself a writer, but for the first few days of training, I had severe writers block.  Getting anything on paper was impossible and I began to FREAK!  Finally on Thursday of the first week, I began typing away on my IPAD and wrote the following piece below titled, Blessings from the Couch. 
* This was written after completing an activity called blueprinting.  In a nut shell, I drew a house that had meaning to me on parchment paper, labeled all rooms in the house, drew/labeled the furniture, wrote specific memories from each room (yes, even the bathrooms), and then picked a place to write about that had specific meaning to me.  Read the story below and you'll see why my story was titled Blessings from the Couch!


Blessings from the Couch

Soft, comfortable, warm.  The couch is my safe haven and  where I spent many afternoons detoxing after a long day of teaching.  The cozy couch is also a place where I received the best news I had waited for, for countless years. 

I can still remember sitting there watching the time on the TV tick tock by with each passing minute. Three o’clock seemed like an eternity away when,  in reality, it was less than five minutes til.  As the clock struck three, I picked up the phone, dialed the number with trembling fingers, questioned myself when the phone was ringing if I had dialed the correct number, took several deep breaths, and prayed to God one last time before the person on the other end answered.  When the operator answered the phone, I proceeded to tell her the extension I needed…the nurses’ station, extension 1.  And the wait began.

“Good afternoon, this is Paula, May I help you?”

“Yes ma’am, my name is Hayley Scott, and I had an appointment with Dr. Grunert this morning and I’m calling to get the results of my lab work.”

I’m annoyed at the sound of clacking computer keys as I sit waiting impatiently for the results.

“Mrs. Scott, are you sure you were in this morning and had lab work?”

“Yes.  My appointment was at ten, and I was told to call back at three o’clock today for my results.  I have the band-aide to prove it and a vial of blood somewhere with my name on it.”

Laughing, the nurse responds, “Okay, honey, I found the lab report, hold on one second.”

As we sat side by side, each holding a cordless phone, we waited for the nurse to review the results of the lab work-this seemed like FOREVER.  My stomach in knots, I felt as if I was going to be sick when the nurse returned to the line.

“Mrs. Scott, you aren’t just pregnant, you are VERY pregnant.  Congratulations.”

From that moment on I don’t recall the rest of our conversation because my husband and I embraced one another and cried our eyes out.  All the years of trying, the surgeries, the medications, the procedures, the unsuccessful transfer, the anger, the shots, the questions of why us, didn’t matter anymore.  God heard our many prayers and finally answered our prayers on His timing.  The next two hours were spent calling family and friends to share the ever so exciting news with them.

Blessings from the couch!

Just a few short days later we discovered that God had a bigger and better plan for us.  Not only were we expecting a baby, we learned that we were expecting TWO babies, due on my birthday, January 18, 2009. 

Blessings from not the couch this time - but true blessings from God!

That summer, I spent many a days laying on that couch with pure exhaustion and all day morning sickness, but I wasn’t complaining.  Heck, I had waited, prayed, and hoped for this day way too long.

Blessings from the couch!

Per doctor’s orders and in order to prevent preterm labor, weeks twenty-eight through thirty-six of my pregnancy were spent on that same comfy couch with an ever so growing belly.  Hours upon hours of watching “trash” TV, countless hours surfing the world wide web, family and friends dropping by for quick visits and dropping off meals, frequent potty breaks, blogging, and usually a shower or two a day is how I spent these weeks of bed rest.  Boring to some, but each passing doctor’s appointment and no news of preterm labor meant bed rest was successful.  And successful it was.  We made it full term; thirty-six weeks.  On December 21, 2008, our healthy and perfect little miracles arrived; Brooks Allen at 8:11 am and Burkley Ann at 8:12 am.

Blessings from the couch!