Today....

I know that today carries a lot of significance for many of my friends, American and Canadian alike.  8 years ago as we turned on our TV's first thing in the morning we were greeted by a sight no one could ever have imagined possible....the sight of those airplanes hitting the Towers...and just like everyone else, I will never forget where I was and what I was doing that morning when I saw that happen.

However, it is because of where I was and what I was doing that this day holds significance for me.  You see, I was 36 weeks pregnant with my second child and had just been medivac transferred to Grande Prairie, AB the day before (please note:  I was to have been medivac'ed on September 11th but God saw fit to make an empty plane returning from Edmonton available the day before).  It was early in the morning and I was waiting word on the latest ultrasound results...."had my placenta moved enough for me to safely go full-term with this pregnancy?" was the question on my mind.  As I sat in my hospital room, looking out the window on that beautiful sunny day, I wasn't aware that the world as we knew it was about to change in front of our eyes.  No, what I was aware of was a great sense of peace and calm...knowing that regardless of what the doctors were about to tell me it would be okay. 

Thankfully I received the news I was hoping for....my placenta had moved.  Significantly.  Enough that I could probably go home in a couple weeks and I could carry my baby full-term without risking my life or his.  It was with this knowledge in my head and joy in my heart that I made my way down the hall to the TV room...where I watched two airplanes destroy the false sense of security that millions of people had lived with up until that moment.  As I stood there, eyes fixed on the TV, horrified at what I was watching, desperately sad for the families I knew were losing loved ones in those moments, I couldn't help but still feel this incredible peace and joy....while this horror was happening I was experiencing my own miracle...and my son was safe.  For the first time in two months I knew that everything was going to be okay. 

And THAT is what today is for me.  Today marks the anniversary of a miracle.  A yearly reminder that God is in control and is the Master Healer.  You see, I had placenta previa so severely that the doctors all said that it was impossible for the uterus to grow enough, and therefore the placenta to move enough, for me to consider a natural delivery.  In fact, they didn't understand why I had no complications whatsoever prior to that first day when I started to bleed at 7 months pregnant.  Given the position of the placenta, I should have started bleeding out months earlier.  There were a couple times when they were getting ready to do emergency C-Sections in order to get that baby out and the bleeding stopped as fast as possible....each time the bleeding stopped on its' own, something that shouldn't have happened.  God made it possible for me to transfer from Edmonton to Grande Prairie, closer to home, on September 10th and had that not happened, I was to have had a C-section on Thursday, September 13, 2001.  Instead, I went home on October 2nd or so...was able to spend the last two weeks of my pregnancy at home, doing normal "mom" things, savouring those last few days alone with my daughter.  And on October 14, 2001 my son was delivered safely and without drugs or interventions of any kind. 

I remember those who were injured or killed today.  The families who were left behind to deal with the tragedy of the day's events.  But in my heart I am thanking God for miracles and remembering those today.