2008 has been a very eventful year. As you can tell by the title of the post there was a lot of beautiful things which have happened this year, but as with most things, some of these beautiful things have come wrapped in hard work and worried nights. I will try to cover the year in chronological order.
-We had the miss fortune to experience a miscarriage in early January. We had not told anyone we were pregnant and this left us with having to tell our family that we were pregnant and lost the baby all at the same time. This was very difficult and painful but hopefully it will allow us to better empathize with those who are going through the same thing. I know I have had to deal with some people in the ER who were having a miscarriage and it defiantly made me treat them with a little more compassion.
-I was also given a large gift by a very gracious family in our church. They found out I needed to take a class to prepare for the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT). This class was very expensive and I knew there was no way I could afford to pay for the class. So every Tuesday and Thursday night for four months I spent 4 hours in class, learning to take this test. I am so grateful to this family because there was no way of doing this one our own. I also spent countless hours studying for the MCAT in empty class rooms at church. I took the test once in June in
-We were told to wait a few months before trying to get pregnant again. Well we thought differently so we started trying again in February. To our (at least my) surprise we got pregnant the first month. Leigh was a trooper through the entire pregnancy. The first few months we were a little anxious but every doctors visit went wonderfully. We were both convinced that it was going to be a boy but the early ultrasounds proved us wrong. We decided early on to name her Aubrey Jane, Aubrey we just liked and Jane after my mom. (more on our little girl later)
-We did get the opportunity to go to
-I finished up all of my prerequisites for medical school in May. I have to say I did better this go around than ever before. Maybe I just needed the motivation to know where I was going?
-Our pastor was also teaching through the book of Proverbs. When he came to Proverbs 31 he asked Leigh to teach on this passage. She did a wonderful job teaching how a woman can live Godly, but even better than that she has lived it every day.
-My mom had a persistent cough for several months. The doctor put her on every antibiotic they could to clear up her cough. In early spring they finally did a CT of her lungs to find out what was going on. The CT caught the top of her kidney which showed a large mass. She was diagnosed with kidney cancer in June. They scheduled her to meet with the urologists in July. But before she could make it to her appointment her pain became unbearable and she was also experiencing some mental status changes and I was forced to take her to the ER where I work. Luckily, rather we were blessed, by the fact of knowing all of the doctors and surgeons and they jumped on her case quickly. They did another CT and found it was an abscess instead of a tumor. They had her in surgery within minutes and drained the abscess. She did become septic and spent several weeks on a ventilator in ICU. This was a very tough time, but it was a miracle to find out she did not have cancer.
-Also both my sisters were pregnant during this time. My little sister, who was pregnant with twins, ended up spending almost two months in the hospital on bed rest. It was the same time mom was in the hospital. She gave birth to Cooper James-Paul and Evann Ashley-Isabell on Sept 9th. They are two healthy babies and we are so very blessed to have them. My older sister is also pregnant but she is not due until the end of January. So Marleigh is going from the only grandchild to one of five in only four months! Oh ye a big side note about Marleigh. She accepted Christ into her life this past fall in Awana. She is waiting for her Grandaddy to baptize her.
-So the biggest news of the year. Leigh gave birth to our little girl on Nov 7th. She weighed 7 lbs 4 oz and was 20 ½ inches long. Even though she looks like me she is the most beautiful little girl in the world, haha. Leigh truly amazes me everyday as she takes care of her. She is the most amazing mother I have ever seen. She never gets tired of feeding in the middle of the night and does a wonderful job when I have to work nights. Aubrey just amazes me, I find myself just holding her and looking at her. I do admit it scares me sometimes. But I have already learned a lot more about love than I ever thought possible, both from Leigh and from Aubrey. Luckily we have had the help of her mom Peg and step dad Lonnie (who stayed with us for two weeks after the birth) and my family, who live relatively close.
-I have also completed my applications for medical school. I had to wait until I got all of my MCAT scores back. But I do have an interview at ETSU in January. And I am waiting to hear back from several other schools to see if they want an interview. Those schools are, Marshall, LMU, Virginia Tech, Pikeville, PCOM-Georgia Campus and West Virginia SOM. I honestly do not know which school I stand the best chance with, but we are hoping for ETSU because it is a great school and it is very close to our house.
So 2008 has been a wonderful year filled with many miracles. I thank God everyday that I have Leigh to walk this journey with. She is so often the strength that I need when I can not see the road ahead. I pray often that our little girl is filled with her faith, her beauty, and her love.
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