BY Megan Zeigler, Pastor’s WIFE AT Living Hope Alliance in BellAFonTE
The song “You Already Know” by JJ Heller played over and over in my hospital room after Peter was born. These are some the lyrics:
“Everything around me seems uncertain,
My weary heart can’t take much more surprise,
I wish there was a point on the horizon,
Something I could see with my own eyes,
I need to tell you that I’m scared,
I feel completely unprepared
and nothing’s what it was two weeks ago.”
On January 24, 2022, I woke up with a piercing headache. This headache was so bad it made me puke. I called off work at 5:00 a.m. and tried to go back to sleep. The next thing I remember is waking up in the ICU at Mt. Nittany Hospital on January 25 and Byron telling me that my son and first child, Peter, was born.
In between those 24 hours, I had three seizures, one of which lasted 13 minutes. I had an emergency C-Section with countless doctors and nurses watching over me and my newborn son, making sure we had the best care possible.
Shortly after waking up on January 25, the ambulance drivers stopped by my room and let me meet my son before he was transferred to Hershey Medical Center.
I don’t remember any of this.
Due to the seizures, I was suffering concussion symptoms. I couldn’t stay awake very long, and my body was recovering. People say to me all the time that it is good that I don’t remember, but I have had to work through the fact that I missed the first 24 hours of my son’s life. I have to see that even though I don’t remember meeting Peter for the first time, there will be countless other firsts that I won’t ever forget.
God has taught me a lot in the last 11 weeks.
First, He has taught me to trust Him to provide. I have been at my job less than a year so that means I don’t qualify for any paid leave. However, through the generous gift of those around us, I was able to take eight weeks of maternity leave, and our bank account was barely depleted.
Second, and most importantly, He taught me that He is in control. He knew that Peter would arrive five weeks early. He knew that I would have eclampsia and develop blood clots. He knew that I would spend 12 days in the hospital. He knew all this, and it is part of His mighty plan to bring the world to himself. I know it is part of His plan because every person that hears our story will hear that it was that God of the universe that held me in His hand.
This is definitely the shortened version of our story. If you would like to hear more, we’d love to share it with you. Feel free to reach out to me or Byron.