On Sunday, October 9, my pastor gave me some very timely advice in the confessional. He told me to share the advice with my husband which I obediently did, telling him, “Fr. Saguto told me that I should take some time for myself.” Little did any of us know that my pastor’s advice would be something about which I would have no say.

On the Friday preceding that Sunday, in the wee hours of the morning, I woke up with a pain in my right calf. Thinking that a cramp was starting, I flexed my foot to no avail. As Friday turned to Saturday, and Saturday turned to Sunday, the pain in my calf became increasingly worse. Listening to my husband, I called my doctor’s office on Sunday morning. I told the on-call doctor what I was experiencing and she advised me to go to the ER to rule out a blood clot. As I got ready to do so, I decided that I would rather go to Sunday Mass; I also thought, “The pain is probably just muscle related.” However, by Sunday evening, I realized that I should probably take the doctor’s advice.

My husband lovingly took me to the ER. Once in the ER, the doctor checked my blood, administered blood thinner, and admitted me to the hospital. On Monday morning, a doppler ultrasound (?) was done on my leg and the hospital’s obstetrician told me that I would be staying in the hospital for a week. My eyes welled up and I swallowed hard, asking, “A week?” The doctor replied, “Well, a minimum of three more days.”

After the doctor left, I let the tears roll down my face, thinking, “I can’t be away from my husband and children that long.” Then, I started to pray the Rosary. As I did so, my pastor’s advice came to mind, and I decided to turn my hospital stay into a little retreat. I continued to pray the Rosary, and added the Memorare and a special little prayer. The first time that my family visited, my eldest daughter brought my missal and two books for me to read. In doing so, she inadvertently added to my little retreat.

Fortunately, someone in the hospital overrode the obstetrician’s decision and sent me home around bed time on Thursday night. Thanks to my pastor’s advice, I left feeling a little refreshed. After visiting my doctor the following Friday, I was thankful to see that this little baby inside me is doing well. I still have some ultrasound photos to share (10 weeks 2 days, and 11 weeks). I also now have something to offer up for this baby.