Here we are, almost at the end of one chapter and on the verge of starting a new one—the one where you’re here in the world and we can see and touch you! Oh man, what is life going to be like? Even when I try to envision it, I don’t think I am at all prepared for how you will capsize our lives in the very best way.
Today after months of cleaning and rearranging we finally have your room put together.
I’m trying to think of what’s happened over the last several weeks. Probably the biggest thing was I got sick. It started on January 8th and was the worst cold I’ve ever had—and I’m still not 100% better. I’m still congested. I didn’t think about it until it happened, but being pregnant kept me from taking a lot of my usual medicine that I would normally take. And even taking the cold medicines the doctor said were ok still scared me. It was such a relief when I was well enough for my usual appointment and the ultrasound tech said everything looked good. I was so worried about hurting you.
To make matters worse, I dealt with the cold (and tried home remedies too, like drinking apple cider vinegar, eating chunks of straight garlic, drinking green tea, standing in front of the steam from a tea kettle—anything I could do to try and speed to the cold process up or make it go away!) and then got pink eye. The pink eye was disgusting. And I caught in both eyes. There was just so much mucous, it was inevitable. You would think that would have been the worst of it, but at the end, when the pink eye was healing and the cold had somewhat calmed down, I think I got food poisoning. I don’t think it was the flu, but who knows? All I know is that for two days, I was getting up every hour to go to the bathroom. It was miserable. And you were in my belly. I had to position myself so that I tried to cradle you and not squish you as I was throwing up. And I was so scared that the convulsions were going to send me into early labor or that I was crushing you and hurting you. I was so tired. And as much as I didn’t want to drink or eat, I forced myself to because I didn’t want you or me to get dehydrated. I didn’t want to go to the hospital and risk getting anything else, especially with my immune system being so, so weak. T was really sweet on that first night. He was up with me, rubbing my back and talking me through it. It was rough. He went to work the next day exhausted and I loved him so much for getting up with me in the middle of night, knowing that he’d be tired the next morning.
All of that happened over a two to three week period. We had 4 baby showers for you/us and I was sick for every one of them. Maybe it was a blessing, because I wasn’t strong enough to care about the little things. Everything turned out as it should have. And we are very blessed, and were very blessed by a lot of people. We are so very thankful for those who took time and spent energy and money to celebrate little you.
Before I got sick, we celebrated your auntie Kimberly’s wedding day and T’s big birthday. The wedding was beautiful and for the most part I managed okay at being 8 months pregnant and a bridesmaid—but the day after I sure did catch up on sleep. I loved being with your dad. Have I mentioned to you how much I love him? I can’t wait for you to know your daddy.
Auntie Callyan came into town and I was sick for that too. We didn’t do much. We managed to eat at Memphis-special places like Tops and Corky;s and Muddy’s and Gus’s, but mostly we stayed inside and rested because I couldn’t do much else. I was so tired and still healing. I am so thankful that she came and was able to spend time with us before your arrival.
It was around this same time that your dad got sick. We had left the blow up mattresses up from your auntie's visit and the following weekend we threw up a blanket to darken the living room and popped in Lord of the Rings for a full day of binging. I love your dad so much. It had been so busy with the sicknesses and company and showers that we really needed that time to wind down. It meant so much to soak up time together, even if we were both still under the weather.
One of the showers thrown for us was by your grandmas. They did a great job at throwing a beautiful shower with the most amazing food and games. It was really special, and again we were very blessed by those who attended and gifted us with such amazing gifts.
We are in single digits now! 9 days until your arrival, maybe less if you come early. I think I’ll miss feeling you in my belly, but I am looking forward to seeing your little face and watching your dad hold you. The very best is yet to come and I hope that we can give you the world—or as much of it that matters. We love you, baby.
