What a blessing it is to be alive!

So I know I haven't written in a LONG time, and I'm sorry about that. Quick update on a lot of things that have happened - we are pregnant with twins (a boy - Boston Matthew and, a girl - Ellie Sue) and we're due September 4! I'm 31 weeks exactly today, measuring 37/38 weeks but doing well! I'm getting huge and the babies are moving around a lot, and we're excited to meet them (hopefully not until August sometime though - the doctor will induce us at 38 weeks (August 21) if they're not born before then).

Anyway, I was attempting to paint my toenails today while Landon took a nap, and I was laughing at myself because I could hardly breathe while doing it haha (I just decided to have Jeff paint them later tonight for me). So then my dad called and said he had a really cool story to tell me, and it has left me feeling extremely blessed to be here on this Earth, and for grateful for all of the many blessings I have. Jeff told me I should write this down so I remembered, so I figured I'd write in my blog about it so we have it on record forever. :)

My dad was out in a golf tournament today, and he and his friend were playing against some other guys my dad didn't know. After talking a little while, he found out one of them was (or at least had been) a hospital administrator for the Neo-Natal clinic at Utah Valley hospital. My dad said "Oh really? My daughter was born and stayed there for a while." The doctor asked when it was, and he said, "1988 - she had Strep B." Then the guy said "Wait, is your last name Cottrell?"

Come to find out that this guy was an administrator when I was born, and he actually remembered my case from over 29 years ago. He said, "Wasn't your daughter hooked up to about 25-26 tubes, and just really struggling to make it?" My dad said, "Yeah her lung collapsed, she died for a few minutes, she really had a rough go and had a lot of problems after that. I can't believe you remember her from so long ago!" The doctor responded, "When you're in our line of work, you ALWAYS remember the ones that were not supposed to make it, but make it."

Wow.

The doctor said he remembers that they did everything they possibly could for me, but they knew that even if I survived my chances of having a normal life were not good. He asked my dad, "Can I ask, is your daughter still alive?" My dad said, "Yeah, she's 29, she graduated from Utah State, married a great guy, has a little boy and is pregnant with twins right now." He was blown away and said, "Can I ask, is she 'normal'? Does she have problems with her sight, hearing, anything like that?" Dad responded, "No not at all! She's smart, doesn't have any mental problems or any vision or hearing problems like she was supposed to have. When she got out of the hospital for months we went to all the doctors that were recommended and got all the tests done they told us to do, and everything came back totally normal."

He was stunned, and simply responded, "That is just a miracle, there is no reason at all why she should be normal. Every nurse, doctor and administrator in that hospital was convinced that your daughter would never have a normal life. I mean it just doesn't happen with everything she went through. It is really nothing short of a miracle!"

Today especially, I look at my life and I am so grateful for everything! I am grateful that I am normal, that I have a no major health problems, that I am married to the best man I know, have a beautiful little boy and have Boston Matthew and Ellie Sue on the way. I know that some of you may not believe in a higher power or are struggling to believe, but I KNOW that he was watching over me to make sure that I was alright, and guiding the doctors and nurses to know what to do. The fact that I am here and writing this right now just proves to me that God exists and that he does perform miracles! I know that he watches over me now, watches over my family and especially our little twins.

I'm also grateful that we are tested for Group B Strep now for pregnancies. Over the years, my dad has randomly spoken to a few of the doctors that took care of me when I was a baby, and one of them told him that my case was so severe that it was what convinced the board in Utah that they needed to make testing for Group B Strep standard to avoid having that happen again. I had Group B Strep with Landon and also have it with the twins, but they just do IV antibiotics when you're in labor before the babies are born and the babies will be just fine. For me it's another huge blessing that Landon was born without the complications I had. Miracles are there when you look for them!