 | | | | | | by Footprints Birmingham on
| Hi Footprints Family! My name is Lurenda Avery and I've recently taken on the role as coordinator for the FPM's Birmingham Chapter. This is a ministry that I've had a passion for over the past few years and I'm honored to take this responsibility. I wanted to share a bit with you about why NICU ministry is so close to my heart.
On Friday, May 26, 2006 my husban, Ben, and I headed down for a fun Memorial Day weekend on Lake Martin. We had recently learned that we would welcome a baby girl into our family and were full of joy. We spent Saturday hanging out with our friends and family, going for boat rides, floating in the water and just enjoying the weather. I'd noticed that I was having a few Braxton Hicks contractions, but didn't think much of it.
Sunday morning is it when it all started. I woke up to cramping and bleeding. I immediately knew something was wrong, but kept my cool. Ben and my parents rushed me to the local hospital. When we arrived the staff made no fuss over the situation. Since I was trying to stay calm I simply followed their lead. This was my first pregnancy and I was clueless. The doctor ordered an ultrasound and later told me, without checking my progress, that I was fine. I'd just overdone it. "Go home and get some rest, " he said. He was the doctor. I didn't argue, I was relieved to know that everything was going to be okay.
We went back to the lake house. I was excited to inform my friends that I was okay, but I should stay in bed the rest of the day. Well, I wasn't okay. The contractions got worse, the pain grew stronger. We knew it was time to head back to Birmingham.
Upon arriving at St. Vincent's Hospital I was in pain, but not horrific pain. I was still thinking that this was all false labor pains. I'd get a shot and go home. That wasn't the case. When the doctor came in to check me the look on her face spoke volumes.
"You're 10 centimeters," she said.
"What? Well, how do you fix it," I questioned.
"You don't. Lurenda, you're going to have this baby very soon."
"But, I'm only 24 weeks!" I screamed.
"Yes, and the survival rate isn't very high. I'm so sorry."
Shock. Complete numbness. I felt nothing. How did this happen? What did I do? I did everything right. But the other doctor said I just overdid it!
I was rushed from triage into a room. I was basically turned onto my head so that I could hold the baby in long enough for a steroid shot to take action and for the neonatologist to arrive. As soon as the neonatologist walked in everyone started moving about the room. I remember my sweet husband holding my hand and telling me that we would get through this together. I couldn't cry, I couldn't laugh, at this point I was just existing. I remember the doctor asking if they should resuscitate once the baby was born. How could I tell them no? Of course, I wanted them to do everything within their power to ensure that my baby was given a chance at life. I was told that she may only live for 2 hours and that she'd likely weigh less than a pound. Once again, shock, grief, anger, all rolled into one soul.
At 3:11 a.m. on Monday, May 29, 2006 Olivia Nichole was born weighing 1 lb. 8 oz. and 13 inches long. She squealed the second she was born. They let me kiss her forehead and immediately began working on her. The next few hours are a blur. I know that my husband followed the doctors and nurses as far as they would allow. I remember lying there still in shock.
A few hours later I was allowed to see her. She was the most beautiful baby I'd ever seen. She was our little girl. Despite her tininess we could see that she shared many of our own features.
Here she is. Our sweet angel.
Olivia managed to beat the odds and survive the first 72 hours. We were thrilled that she'd made it so far. Each day was a huge accomplishment. I specifically remember that her 4th day was her best day. I remember the nurses telling me how well she'd done and just feeling so proud of her.
However, over the weekend her tiny body began to grow weary. She'd gone through so much. She'd fought an incredible fight. After countless prayers, medications, songs and stories at her bed side and the most beautiful Christening I've ever witnessed, our sweet baby grew her wings and became an angel. On June 5, 2006 we were able to hold her as she quietly passed from our arms to Jesus' arms. It was the most difficult day of my life, yet I had peace. I knew she was okay and I knew we would be okay.
We later held a beautiful celebration of life for our sweet girl and I was astounded by the support we received from our friends and family. Olivia lived a short life, but she was loved by so many during those seven days. One of my dear friends said that day that Olivia lived the perfect life. She never knew heartbreak or sadness, grief or anger. She only knew love and that is perfect.
About a year and a half later we finally welcomed Olivia's baby brother, Jeffrey Kent into the world. After 13 weeks of bed rest he was born healthy and happy on November 3, 2007. He's now 2 years old and a bouncing ball of energy!
On June 5, 2010, 4 years to the day after Olivia went to be with Jesus, we became a family of four when Chelsea Hope made her debut. Soon after her birth our youngest baby had to make the dreaded trip to the NICU for retracting, she still had a bit of fluid on her lungs. Although I knew this situation was nothing like our last experience, I was heart broken over the idea of our baby being in the NICU and the date didn't help matters. I prayed and asked God why? Hadn't we been through enough already? However, after walking through the Unit doors and seeing our newest baby I knew she would be fine. This was just a tiny bump along the road to having our family under one roof. Our stay was short-lived and five days later we left the hospital.
God has led me to take my NICU experiences and use them to share His love with other families like ours. While our journey hasn't been one that I would have chosen I wouldn't change one thing. Because of His grace I can honestly say that I'm okay. I know that our girl is perfect in His arms. I know that Chelsea's birthday is just another way for Him to show us that we're all connected. I know that He wants me to be a friend to those traveling a similar path.
Our family of four.
If you are interested in volunteering and sharing God's love with these special families I hope that you will contact us today. The Birmingham Chapter will have a planning meeting within the next few weeks, so be on the lookout for an email soon. I look forward to working with you and hearing your stories.
In His Love,
Lurenda
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | by Footprints Birmingham on
| This past March Footprints Birmingham held our first fundraiser. Flapjacks for Footprints turned out to be a great sucess for us. We were able to raise close to $1400.00 That is a lot of pancakes. We had a few wonderful volunteers from Montgomery come and give us a hand as well. It was great to see so many people come together to help us. During the last week of March, the high school youth from Riverchase United Methodist assembled bags for us. They were able to learn about a ministry close to home and also learn a little about the NICU. This past Friday, Footprints delivered Easter baskets to families in the NICU. Our hope is that they were able to remember through the basket that He is indeed risen and there is hope. We also want to be able to give them a sense of normalcy. For those who have experienced the NICU, normal is not a word that plays into your vocabulary. I would like to thank everyone who has supported us through the past few months. There really are too many people to name. For fear of leaving someone out, I will give a blanket Thank You to everyone. Please keep Footprints Birmingham in your prayers for we are going to spread our wings and fly into other hospitals through out the city. We hope to touch as many families as possible and bring as many families to God's grace as we can. | | | | | | | |
| | | | |  | | Birmingham's 1st Bag Stuffing! | | | by Footprints Birmingham on
| This past weekend Birmingham Footprints had our first opportunity to make bags in Birmingham . It was a wonderful testament to how Footprints is a community ministry as we had people from all over the tri-county area. Most, if not all, had children in the NICU and felt the Lord call them to this ministry. It was a great, yet sobering feeling to realize most everyone in the room had struggled with the NICU at one point in time. That struggle had manifested itself into a celebration of the Lord through serving him through making the bags in hope that just one family would feel Christ’s love and comfort.
After starting to deliver bags to St. Vincent’s in September of last year, I would sometimes get discouraged for not having the resources to do this appropriately here in Birmingham . However, the Lord always knows what he is doing. He waited until we had the right people in place for our first bag making. He continued telling me, wait. I continued saying, I don’t want to wait. However, it was completely worth the wait. I want to thank all of those who were on hand. Without them and their wonderful spirit of giving, we would not have been able to pull this off.
Alison Bagget
Lurenda Avery
Sally Crumpton and Rachel Crumpton
Janatha Thompson and Anna Thompson
Heidi Gobbel
Katie Wagner
Matt Collier
Amanda Westbrook
We were able to put together 28 bags to be delivered to St. Vincent ’s Hospital. We had a wonderful time together as we had fellowship with each other and can not wait until the next time we are able to get together to make the bags.
Nicole Collier
"Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God." 1 Corinthians 9:11
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Santa at St. Vincent's Hospital | | | by Footprints Ministry, Inc. on
| Last weekend we had our 1st Santa visit to the NICU at St. Vincent's hospital in Birmingham. We had an amazing visit! It was almost surreal walking through St. Vincent's with the Birmingham volunteers. I'm still kind of in shock that God has opened the door in Birmingham and also in Huntsville. I probably shouldn't be shocked but when we started Footprints we had no idea the Lord would take it to other cities. And I just think this is a small glimpse of the HUGE things He has in store for us. The Lord is truly amazing and we give him ALL the glory for the great things he is doing in the Footprints Ministry! Birmingham has a wonderful dedicated group of volunteers. Below is a story from the associate pastor, Jack Hinnen, of Riverchase United Methodist Church, he was one of the elfs for our visit.
I recently had the opportunity to visit the NICU at St. Vincent’s hospital with an organization called Footprints. My part was minor; I simply dressed up as an elf and escorted Santa through the unit. This is not your typical Santa visit. The kids don’t holler and get excited when the big man with a red suit comes in. In fact, except for the occasional unhappy young one, our day in the NICU was incredibly quiet. But the lack of noise did not imply a lack of awareness or activity. The NICU can be a pretty intense place! In this hospital unit, every second, every look, and every moment is precious. There were families there who had been there weeks with no sure idea of when they’d be able to go home. There were grandparents there who had put jobs, families, and life on hold until their newest family members could be well. There are nurses and physicians who, like angels, flutter around restoring not just health but humanity to the smallest babies and the most anxious parents. It is into this place that we brought a bit of Christmas Spirit.
As a pastor, I live for times when people reach out to one anther. But Footprints is about meeting people where they are and ministering to them, in even the most hard to reach places not in the name of Santa, but in the name of Jesus. What Footprints offered was a chance to bring people out of the timeless and unending watching of the NICU and remind them that they are not alone. Christmas, the story of the birth of another baby, could reach them even in the NICU. I felt my heart lifted to know that a prayer, a stocking full of supplies, and a picture with a jolly fat man could be brought into as solemn place as the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and connect with those with heavy hearts. Like I said, my part was minor, but I felt God moving in that place. Jesus says a thing or two about reaching out to the least of these. In the NICU that day, we saw some of the smallest, most precious, people we could possibly meet. And it made my Christmas. Jack Hinnen Associate Pastor Riverchase United Methodist Church Thank you so much to all of the volunteers who helped with the 1st Santa visit at St. Vincent's! We are so excited about the future plans for Footprints in Birmingham! Thank you Matt and Nicole Collier, Alison Baggett, Cindy Davis, Ben and Lurenda Avery, Jack and Cheryl Hinnen, and Glenn Wilson.
"God knows how often I pray for you. Day and night I bring you and your needs in prayer to God, whom I serve with all my heart by spreading the Good News about his Son." Romans 1:9
| | | | | | | |
|
