Hello FLT readers! Have you noticed I’ve been gone from Marriage Matters? Well, I had my own bit of March Madness this year! I’m calling it “My Beautiful Disaster”.
Beautiful….started labor on the afternoon of March 5th, one day past by due date after a wonderful day of walking the mall and a one-hour massage complete with all major, labor-inducing pressure points getting full attention.
Disaster…sporadic contractions all evening instantly turned into MAJOR contractions at midnight. Three minutes between contractions made the half-hour drive to the hospital a bit hairy…as did the slow-moving receptionist who told me in an empty emergency room waiting area, “Just one moment” as she typed away at the computer (probably on Facebook) until I said, “This is my 5th child. I don’t have a moment.”
Beautiful…we get to the delivery room and settled in with an amazing nurse. My mom is at the delivery, the first time since my first delivery, which turned into an emergency c-section. I’m 6-7 cm dilated and all seems to be going great. Now just to get that epidural…
Disaster…after the excruciating 45-minute wait to empty an IV bag before they will administer the epidural, we wait another 45 minutes for the anesthesiologist who is “right down the hall” but never quite makes it to my room. My birth plan (perfectly executed 3 times prior) of relaxing/sleeping during labor turns into a sweaty, sometimes screaming, shake-the-bed-rail-off, natural childbirth.
Beautiful…in the wee hours of the morning of March 6th, I gave birth to our 5th son, Mickey Daniel. “Mickey” as in “Mantle”, not “Mouse” to go with his four brothers and their baseball-inspired names. (Believe me, if I knew 5 sons were in my future, I may not have started this naming strategy!)
Disaster…my eager pushing combined with Mickey’s large size lends him to have some bruising on his face. My purple-cheeked boy ends up with high bilirubin levels exasperated as the bruising heals and gives off more red blood cells for his liver to process.
Beautiful…his levels are low enough for us to be discharged on Friday afternoon. My boys (including Daddy) are all glad to have me home.
Disaster…blood work on Saturday reveals the bilirubin levels are continuing to rise and he is admitted back to the hospital on Saturday afternoon for phototherapy treatment. I spend another night in the hospital, away from my other boys once again.
Beautiful…overnight treatment works great and we are discharge again Sunday afternoon. I feel good. Mickey is doing good. We invite eager family to come for visits.
Disaster…as our extended family all sits to eat dinner at our home, my 2-year-old pushes back his chair and vomits everywhere. Moments after cleaning him up, our 17-month old follows suit. The stomach bug hits our home, and my husband and I bounce between two vomiting/messy diapered toddlers for the entire night…in between feeding and settling our freshly home newborn.
Beautiful…my amazing husband spends the next 5 days elbow deep in vomit and diarrhea while doing over 30 loads of laundry, a dozen bedding changes, literally a hundred diaper and outfit changes….while me and the baby stay quarantined to our bedroom trying to avoid the bug. (He’s a good man…a VERY good man.)
Disaster…one day out from full recovery of my two young ones, my 4-year old wakes up vomiting in the night. And we start again. Oh, and a call from Grammie (my local and super helfpul Mom) in the morning reveals she’s down with the bug too!!
Beautiful…my Mother-in-law drives the 45 minutes from her home two days in a row to take over the sickness duties while my husband buzzes into work during his month of leave to complete an important project demonstration. Her and my still-not-well Mom spend an entire morning disinfecting our home. The smell of Lysol and bleach fills our home.
Beautiful…during this time, friends from my MOPS group, my ladies bible study and our church fill our home with hot dinners delivered right at 5 PM, baskets full of easy breakfast foods, fresh soup, juice boxes, ginger ale, you name it.
Beautiful…prompted by Facebook posts, we know there is a whole network of prayers going up for us each and every day of the ordeal.
Beautiful…not my husband, nor my 6 year old, nor me, nor Mickey get the virus.
Beautiful…in the chaos of our first week as parents of 5 children, my husband and I hold each other tight every night, more in love than ever…and thankful for each morning that we weren’t awaken by a sick kid in the night.
Beautiful…the disinfecting prompts a better spring cleaning than I’ve done in years. 🙂
Beautiful…week 2 of life with 5 boys seems like a breeze after week 1!
Beautiful…we celebrate Easter this year as a healthy, super blessed family of 7, thankful for the life we’ve found in Christ who alone gives us strength for the disasters and eyes for the beautiful.
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