healthy, (not so) wealthy, and (I wish I was) wise

I never actually thought I would be grateful for housework. So here is the story to what has awakened my senses to appreciating housework...

At the end of December (I was about 12 weeks along) I had to go to the Emergency Room because of some pregnancy issues (I am not going to go into great detail because I know it will gross my dad out, which means it will probably gross others out too). Once there we found out that although the baby was still thriving, there were complications with my pregnancy. I had a large subchorionic hemorrhage (you are welcome to look it up if you want to know what it is, but again, I will spare you the gory details). After visiting my doctor a couple days later it was determined that I should "take it easy and go on partial bed rest." Basically because I have three children there was no way I could be completely down without having to farm the kids out for who knows how long, and I wasn't really willing to do that. But this meant that my everyday activities would have to be pretty limited and definitely no picking Gracie up (or anything else too heavy).

As frustrating as this was the first month went fine - I was able to cope with this. But then after another ultrasound a month after the incident we found that nothing was changing, which isn't always a bad thing, but it certainly wasn't a great thing either. I was starting to get discouraged. The weather was gloomy, my house was a mess, Grace was starting to take advantage of the fact that I couldn't pick her up (major temper tantrums at times when I would normally just pick her up and move on), and all the stress of a somewhat high-risk pregnancy were starting to get to me. Luckily I have wonderful sisters. My sister Michelle organized for my sisters to each come one day a week and help out with my house for a few hours and cook some extra meals and send them down. As inadequate as this made me feel, I was so grateful for the help and the company (and the lesson in swallowing my pride). It was a hard three months, but I feel like I was able to learn a little more about coping with stress, having faith, and accepting help, among other things.

So on to the good part. I had another ultrasound about three weeks ago. And lo and behold it showed that everything is going well. The best case scenario for this condition is that the body will repair itself and the pregnancy will continue as it should. Well, that is what has happened - they told me that I can be a normal person again! This was such great news (along with the news that the baby is still doing well)! I can now go for walks with the kids, pick up Grace occasionally if I need to, and most of all keep up with my home. I have never been so grateful to be able to clean! I have always said that you can tell what state I am in emotionally by the state of my bedroom. For the last three months my room hasn't exactly been clean (I wouldn't let them clean my room or bathroom) and now it is and I love it.

So here's to being healthy - something I hope to never take for granted again!