March Madness

While I absolutely love the highs and lows of the NCAA basketball championship, I prefer our family life to be a little less dramatic. Unfortunately, my preferences matter little in the grand scheme of things, and this past month was full of drama, joy, sorrow, suffering, and every other emotion in between. In the past, I have mentioned that March has always been a difficult month for our family, and this year was no different.

It all began with severe morning sickness–yes that’s right, we are expecting another little one in October! The all-day nausea was far more severe than my previous pregnancies. Couple this with a pregnancy-related, very itchy rash covering my entire body, and I was pretty miserable. Eating very little, I soon experienced some fainting episodes, followed by some severe back pain. Other pregnancy complications led to an u/s, which showed a beautiful heartbeat–praise God!–and a very large cyst. I was put on bedrest until the 12 week mark for fear that the cyst could rupture and disturb the pregnancy. I have now passed that mark, and the nausea has improved a bit.

In addition to the crazy thought of a mother of 3 young children on bedrest, last week our entire family came down with a stomach bug. The baby ran a high fever, had a seizure, and I removed myself from bed-rest to take him to the ER. We were released in the middle of the night. After about 5 hours of sleep, I awoke to stomach pains. 24 hours later, I was severely dehydrated and heading to the ER. After 4 bags of fluid and some anti-nausea medication, I was feeling much better. I returned home to another vomiting child, and Mr. Red with stomach pains. It was quite a week!

Back in February, I was feeling pretty miserable and wondered how I would make it through the 1st trimester of this pregnancy. MaryAlice suggested that I just need to survive until St. Patty’s day. And while she was off by about 1-week (I was in the hospital on St. Patty’s day), we have turned the corner and things are better. The weather is improving by the day, Easter will be here in only 2 shorts weeks, and this past Monday I heard the baby’s heartbeat!

March is almost over and April brings great hope. I am praying for an easier 2nd -trimester, less anxiety about the health of this baby, and improved overall health for our family. This is my 6th pregnancy, and I only have 3 healthy children, so I worry excessively while pregnant. Now that I’m able to eat, worries about the health of the baby are at the forefront of my concerns. I would greatly appreciate your prayers!