Update and answering questions about c-sec/medical insurance :)

The past couple of days, I hadn't been feeling very well and so Daniel encouraged me to just rest as much as possible. We were wondering if another bleed was coming or if it was just normal pregnancy aches and pains. I think I'm overly sensitive this pregnancy to every little feeling in my tummy. :) I went to be early last night, and since it was Saturday, I slept in this morning (well, I tried to...the children did great getting up, dressed, doing chores, and even getting out cereal for breakfast...they just had a question for me every 10 minutes...it was cute because they didn't want to "bother mommy" so they would come in and whisper their questions in my ear :) ).
When I finally got up, I felt much better and this is the first day in about 9 weeks that I haven't been bleeding! Timothy, Elijah and Daniel went soul winning this morning while the girls, Benjamin and I got the house cleaned, laundry/sheets washed, and even got some chicken cooking in the oven. It's another cool, drizzly day, so the girls took the little ones out to the garage to play playdough and teach them "the plan of salvation". :)
The past couple of days, in our evening devotions, Daniel has been teaching the children how to lead someone to Jesus. They have been very excited and this morning, the older ones were writing down all the verses we've been going over in the back of their Bibles. The older boys have loved going soul winning in English with Daddy while we've been here.
This upcoming week will be a busy one and we appreciate your prayers in the days ahead. Monday night, we will be dropping off the oldest 9 children with 3 different families (the girls will be with some dear friends from church who have 5 sweet daughters of their own...they can't wait; 3 of the boys will be at Grandma's house and the other 3 at an Aunt/Uncle/Cousin's house...I'm sending them with their school work and they all want to make sure we don't get back too soon so that when they are done with school, they will have plenty of time to play :) ). Daniel and I and the our 2 little guys (Nehemiah and Eliseo) will head down to Sacramento as I have an early morning appointment at UC Davis for a level 2 u/s. Lord willing, we will be back home here early Tuesday afternoon.
Wednesday morning I go back to my doctor here and see what he says. I'm hoping for "It's a miracle...nothing is wrong anymore!" :) I'm homesick for Mexico; Daniel says I'm definately a woman because when I'm in Mexico I'm homesick for the states. :)
Early Friday morning, Daniel heads back down to Mexico again. He covets your prayers as he travels and works down there for a few days. He will fly back home the following Tuesday night.
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I try to answer a couple of your questions with each post, so:

"Do you always have to have a c-section from now on?"

With this pregnancy, as I have complete placenta previa meaning the placenta is completely covering the normal exit for the baby, there is no option other than a c-section.
My first c-section was with Susannah (our 9th). I had placenta abruptio during labor with her (placenta tore away from the uterine wall) and had to have an emergency c-sec to save baby and I.
Our next two little ones were also delivered by c-section as there was no other option for me down in Mexico.
So as seeing as this will be my 4th c-section, if the Lord does bless us with another baby in the future, most likely, he/she will be delivered by c-sec. as well.


"How do we afford health care in the USA? Do we have health insurance?"

Before the Lord led us to Mexico, Daniel had excellent health insurance for the family through his job. When he left that job to serve the Lord full time in Mexico, one of the questions we asked ourselves was, "What will we do for health insurance?"
Through some dear friends, we were introduced to Samaritans Ministries International (www.samaritanministries.org). Samaritans Ministries is not medical insurance, but rather is a group of Christian believers who participate together in praying for and providing for each other's medical needs.
Each month, we are given the name of another brother or sister in Christ along with a brief explanation of their medical need. We send our share of money to this individual and then comes the most wonderful part...we sit down together as a family, pray for this person, and then we all write get well cards/letters to them as well and send them to them.
Because this program is limited to Christians who sign a paper saying that they do not participate in many things that are harmful to one's body (illegal drugs, immorality, ect...), the medical expenses/needs are kept in check and our share we give each month is very reasonable.
We sure enjoy knowing that we are able to help another in their time of need, and like I said, the best part is having a name of that individual to pray for/write to.
When I have had my babies and when Daniel had his surgery this year, we simply told the doctors/hospitals that we did not have insurance, but are part of a group of Christians helping Christians. Being "self-pay" we ask for any discounts available (as insurance companies only pay a percentage of the total bill themselves) and then we submitted our medical bills to Samaritans Ministries.
Within a couple of months, we not only recieved the funds to pay for our bills, we were blessed by many cards/letters from those Christians who had helped us letting us know that they were praying for us too.
We have been very blessed/pleased with the program and encourage anyone who may not have medical coverage or is looking for an alternative to go to Samaritan's website for more information.

May the Lord bless you all with a wonderful weekend!