The first main distraction has come in the form of my sister, who joined me about a week ago and will stick with me for another month or two. She has been such a gift! I am definitely able to stay in bed rest position with a helper around and have also been eating way better! Not to mention, that we actually enjoy one another's company, so it's not just me, my computer and Netflix all day long (yay!). And we laugh.
Then, on Thursday, when my partner and I were getting ready to head to the hospital, we discovered our daughter had a fever. (Not being able to care for your child when she is distressed as she was is awful, in case you were wondering!). We asked my sister to care for her while we attended appointments. Later that day my sister texted me to say that she too had a fever! On Friday our daughter got antibiotics for possible strep throat and my husband also became ill. A house full of disasters: one sick child, two sick adults and one on bed rest.
Luckily, in swooped Auntie Lynn to save us all! My aunt drove in from out of town (a 4 hour drive) to cook and care for the lot of us. It was such a relief to have someone just come in and take over. I know that all of us appreciated the extra help, compassion and company - and to be fair, my sister worked through her sickness to help Auntie Lynn. EllaGrace continued to be out of sorts all weekend, but between all of the adults we managed to get her through the worst of it - sharing night shifts, etc. It takes a village, right?
I owe huge thank yous to all of the folks that have offered us support thus far. Help in the form of meals, pick-ups from daycare and dog walking simply make life a little bit easier and take a bit of the stress off - and brave face or not, we are facing a lot. My husband told me just last night the hardest part for him has been the loss of sleep - but that is another blog post in itself.
Distraction - short visits or long - give me the opportunity to think about something else. It is such a break from my usual trying to predict the future; I love when friends speak to me about work or hearing updates about family members. The days during which I have visitors pass by more quickly, which is a blessing. But, there's a trick with time. For instance, this weekend, I thought that we had been so busy for so many days and I had had lots of positive conversations (coached by Auntie Lynn) that surely it must have made a significant dent in time. But, then it was only two or three days. I am still only in my 19th week. I am still so far from viability. And, I try to break it down - my next appointment is next Thursday and it's already Tuesday, so a week and a bit away. Only two or three more appointments until viability. But, in reality, I (we) may not make it through the weekend - I could get an infection on any day. And, viability is 5 weeks away, which is a long time. And, really, 26 or 28 or 30 weeks, where our odds would really improve, are that much further.
I am trying to stick to short term goals which I find to be slightly less overwhelming: next appointment, at which time I will be 21 weeks. *deep breath* In the meantime, I will continue to rely on my lovely friends and family (and to be honest, the TV) to keep me distracted, to help those individual days go by a bit faster. A day at a time... I am okay today. For now. I am okay right now, I have this moment in time with my babies. I will be thankful for that.
Facebook Status Update: Time is a trick, it keeps me down but keeps me going
or: Thank you to everyone who has offered us support, information, feedback and love
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