If you were following my blog at the time of Little Bug’s birth, you will remember that Little Bug had to go through withdrawals from methadone after birth.

Her hospital stay was only five days. It could have been much longer, but thankfully, five days was all Little Bug needed.

Her withdrawal symptoms lasted until she was about 3 months old. We had to be very careful to not let her get overstimulated. We learned to watch for the signs that she was overstimulated. Little Bug could not be passed around like a baton to family members who were eagerly awaiting a chance to be able to hold her. I hated that, but ultimately, I knew I had to do what was best for Little Bug. Little Bug also had to go through some physical therapy because another symptom of withdrawals is tight muscles. We had to loosen up those muscles. Dave would do exercises with her every day before going to work and then again when he got home. Little Bug would scream and scream and I felt so helpless holding the paci to her little mouth trying to calm her down. Another example of having to do something that was hard but something that I knew was best for her.

Well, we are facing all this again with Sweet Pea as her birth mother is also on methadone.

It is a case by case thing. We won’t know how Sweet Pea’s little body handles the withdrawals until she is here. We have no idea how long her hospital stay will be.

We are just praying that God will shield Sweet Pea in the womb and that her little body will not be greatly affected by the exposure to this.

I have already starting thinking in my head how I am going to balance taking care of Little Bug while having a baby in the NICU. I know it will be a challenging time because I will feel torn, but I just keep reminding myself that it will only be a season of time.

Please join me in praying for the health of Sweet Pea. She has been exposed to a lot in the womb, but we are continuing to walk by faith, knowing that God is knitting her in her birth mother’s womb in the exact way He needs her to be for His glory.

- Elaine