This past week, Weston and I have had a few very hard trials. On Wednesday I found out that I had a financial responsibility that I hadn't previously been aware of that was going to make our lives much harder. This revelation was very abrupt and shocking to me. For those of you that know me, you know that I am a worrier and so you can imagine how my brain has been going since I found this out. Then Wednesday night, Michael woke up at 2 in the morning and cried for the next two hours. Weston had to drive to Elko in the morning, so I got up with little man. He was so unhappy, no matter what I did. He only fell asleep if he was in my arms. But if I tried to put him down, he would wake up and scream. Finally by 4am, he had screamed himself out and fell to sleep in my arms and was out. I climbed into bed and looked at the clock. Weston was going to be up in just a half hour and I knew that meant I was only going to get a few more hours of sleep before Michael was up for the day.
Thursday afternoon Michael had his 6 month check up, and it happened to coincide with him developing a very wet cough. I got to the check up on time, but it was another half hour before the doctor came in. That normally wouldn't have been a problem expect that Michael hadn't eaten and was extremely cranky. Once the doctor came in, there were two things we talked at length about.
1. Michael's cough
2. Michael's weight
She was worried that Michael's cough could be a sign of the start of RSV, so I needed to watch it very closely and make sure that if it did develop into anything, I could bring him in. This really scared me because my sister's little girl recently had something very similar, if not exactly the same, and had to go to the hospital to get the mucous drained from her sinuses. Again, with the worrying, I was up every few hours that night to check on him and make sure he was still breathing.
Michael's weight was more of the concern for his pediatrician. He had only gained 1 1/2 lbs from his 4 month check up. This was a major concern for both Dr. Owens and myself. 1 1/2 lbs? How was that even possible. The little man ate all the time! Really! She gave me some suggestions, like breast feeding before giving him solid foods and focusing more on the breast milk. So as soon as I got home, I made a plan of feeding or pumping every two hours, drink lot so Organic Mothers Milk tea, and lather myself in Fennel and Basil Essential Oils to bring up my milk supply.
Once Weston got home from his 13 hour day, I talked briefly about it, but he seemed out of it (understandably) so that was where it had ended. Soon after he walked in the door however, his lethargy and irritability was explained. He had the stomach flu. He started throwing up around 7pm and didn't end until the next morning. It was horrible! The worst part of the whole thing is that I can't do anything to help. Sitting helpless while you watch your loved ones go through pain has got to be the most painful thing to go through. Needless to say, he stayed home from work on Friday. But was in the bedroom almost the entire day, so I got to hang out with Michael all day long.
I didn't realized how much help Weston gave me until I had Michael 100% with no help. By the end of Friday, I was totally exhausted. Having to be on for Michael all day long was difficult, and taking care of my sweet sick husband was difficult. Doing them at the same time was . . . difficult. It was interesting however how one big smile of Michael could make me feel better. How his joyful and happy spirit could lift mine.
But then Friday night came and it all was down hill from there. At 12:30am Michael woke up crying and I got up to put the pacifier back in his mouth. On the way back into bed, I realized my stomach was extremely upset. It didn't matter what position I was in, I felt horrible. Then I realized that what I had been dreading had come to pass. I got Weston's stomach flu. CRAP! So I was up until 6:30am in the bathroom expelling from both ends and completely miserable.
My fever finally broke sometime on Saturday day night, because I woke up today feeling better then I had since Thursday. No wonder I had such a problem taking care of Michael. I was getting sick!
Through this whole experience, I've learned a few very important lessons.
1. The blessing of spouses and friends
2. You are not going to die
3. Our bathroom needs to be deep cleaned
I had a friend bring over lunch without asking. She said she was going to bring it over, and she did. I had another take Michael for a few hours to give us a break. My parents came and gave Weston an Aromatouch massage (which is amazing btw). My father also gave me and Michael one on Thursday which was heavenly.
I am so thankful for friends and family that love and care. For people who just do instead of ask. I am so thankful for my Lord and Savior who helped me out in those dark hours in the middle of the night when I felt like I was dying. And I really did. With each new wave of nausea, I felt like there was no way I wasn't dying. I had an open line to my Father in Heaven and leaned on him through the whole thing.
Through each trial we learn something about ourselves. We are blessed for coming our the other side. I am so thankful that this other side was a bright as it is. Thank you Father!
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