The Path to Now, Part 4

To recap, from January 2008 through early January 2009 where I ended the last post in this series:

1. We made the difficult decision to close our floundering general contracting company,
2. Mr. Four Walls took a job at roughly 40% of what he had made through our business,
3. I took a job outside the home to help make up some of the difference (nowhere near all of it, though),
4. Mr. Four Walls' mom moved in with us to watch the kids (then 3 & 5),
5. Mr. Four Walls was "temporarily" laid off (estimated to last 2 weeks, actually lasted 9), and
6. Surprise, I got pregnant with an IUD firmly in place while Mr. Four Walls was unemployed and we were uninsured.

Whew, that was a whirlwind of a year!  But wait there's more......

My pregnancy went fairly smoothly, all things considered.  Our second daughter had been born with no warning at 32 weeks, and had spent 3 weeks in the NICU (not bad at all for how early she was....) .  Even without that history, the fact that I conceived with an IUD brought along it's own issues.  Throw in the lack of insurance, and I was really overwhelmed.  We made it through a very surreal first few weeks following my first pregnancy test - first told I wasn't actually pregnant, then told I was but that I would have to terminate , and then finally told that there was absolutely nothing abnormal about the pregnancy - and quickly we were able to get some health insurance in place for me.  Thankfully, we were within 30 days of Mr. Four Walls being dropped from his employer's coverage, so there wasn't a huge issue getting the pregnancy covered.

We then turned toward the future and what this baby would mean for it.  I had been at my job for right at a year, and I had no idea how they would handle our news.  The company is over 40 years old, but they've never, not one time, had to deal with a pregnant employee.  That's mainly because it's so small and has mostly employed men and only a few women, most of whom were already past their baby-making years when they started working there.  We navigated through, and we were incredibly blessed by my employer.  I was given some paid leave, followed by the opportunity to bring the baby with me when I returned.  It meant that I had to return much sooner than I would have liked, right at 6 weeks, but that was their offer and as I knew I needed the job, I took it.

Against the odds, our little Peanut made her entrance on her due date, September 26th, 2009 at 4:04 in the afternoon, about three hours after my water broke.  This was despite the fact that I had been in preterm/early labor since 31 weeks, with contractions coming every 10-20 minutes for roughly 2 months, with relatively few breaks.  I worked up until the end of the day Friday, the 25th, and went home figuring that if the baby didn't come, I'd be back Monday morning.  She was born on Saturday.  I started my maternity leave that Monday knowing that I had only a few months before we would have to face the big issue of how in the world we would afford childcare for her once I could no longer bring her with me to the office. 

I prayed A LOT, doing my best to trust that since God had blessed us with this baby, he'd bless us with a way to provide for her.  But it was scary.  We were already on the edge financially, since combined we were making so much less than we had been when we bought the house.  Throw in all of the weeks of unemployment, the extra medical bills, and our commitment to eliminating our debts when things had seemed stable through most of 2008, and our savings was dwindling quickly.  So while I trusted He'd provide, I knew deep down that it might not be in the miraculous, cash-falling-from-the-sky-way that we so often hope for when funds are low.  Some may take this as a lack of faith, but I call it realism.  I accept and wholeheartedly believe that big miracles can and do happen, but that more often than not God will simply nudge us in a direction and wait for us to take the steps.