Back in the Saddle

There's no time like the first day of a New Year to come out of blogging hibernation. If anyone is still checking this blog after my four month leave of absence, I thank you for your loyalty.

As probably most of you know, I was totally knocked off my feet and pretty much out of my life for a good three months by a grueling pregnancy. This is my fourth pregnancy but only my second experience with hyperemisis gravidarum, and let me tell you it is not fun. Only five lucky women in every thousand will experience this level of illness with a pregnancy...and every one of them will wonder if they are dying, (and/or feel like they would rather die than have to endure the relentless suffering of HG.)

At 23 weeks now, I am MUCH improved and almost back to a normal life. The nausea persists around the clock, but the throwing up has tapered off greatly and will hopefully stop altogether. It has been replaced by eating 24/7--as an attempt to abate the nausea (which never helps, but on I eat anyway.)

I feel so grateful to have made it through those very dark days, and I am indebted to friends and family who took over my life, making sure my kids were cared for, my family fed, and my house cleaned, etc. I am especially amazed by my husband who carried the family torch on his own without missing a beat--volunteering in the kids' classrooms, coaching and attending every one of their soccer games, getting all three kids ready and out of the house every morning by 7:45 and handling dinner, homework, showers, the bed time routine, and then dishes, laundry, etc. every night on his own while still making time to tend to my every need and take me for IV's and doctor appts as necessary. (Even when it meant leaving an out of town meeting abruptly to spend a day in the ER with a wife who could barely thank him for it.) He kept me in clean sheets and clean pajamas, ran to the store at a moment's notice to fulfill any food request I thought I could stomach, coordinated with my friends to make sure I had daytime help and visits, etc., and patiently endured the loneliness of this one man show for days, and then weeks, and then months...he is my best support and my biggest hero.

I was blessed to be able to enjoy the holidays, and enjoy them I did. It was hard on Brian and I to miss the HUGE festivities going on in Sri Lanka, where my brother got married on December 22nd. My dad and many of my siblings were fortunate to attend and had the experience of a lifetime. We knew the day we found out we were pregnant that Sri Lanka was no longer an option for us, and it was a true loss. But right now I have to focus on the small, daily triumphs of just being able to function again--and tolerate sights, sounds, smells, motion, touch, and even my own saliva--all of which for months were completely out of the question.

You can imagine this season was a time for my family and I to reflect on the very basics of what is most meaningful in life, and we have learned some hard but enduring lessons through our challenges.

That is a long enough entry for today, but I will be back often now.

Happy NEW YEAR to everyone, and thanks for caring enough to check in on our little corner of the world.