I Must Count My Blessings....

As you may have read in one of my latest posts, we just found out this week that we are expecting our 6th child! A pure joy surprise!! As most of you may not know since I did not start blogging until after our 5th was born, is that my pregnancies are very difficult. I have Hyperemesis Gravidarum. There is still little known about this condition, but health care professions are starting to understand it better and at least begin to help treat it, unfortunately not cure it;(. In the simplest of terms, it is a never ceasing, very overwhelming version of morning sickness. That in itself is quite icky, but as you can imagine, after facing that for weeks to months without being able to hold down any food, the lack of nutrition and fluids become the real issue and can cause, if not treated, other complications.

I have had it with each pregnancy, and with each pregnancy, it gets worse. My pregnancy with Noah, the "morning sickness" lasted until 6 months. I had a surgery to place a PICC line to deliver 24 hour fluids and medication. Fortunately I was able to, with the medication, eat just enough to not need IV nutrition thankfully! I had a home nurse that checked in with me as often as needed to deal with the bandage changes from the PICC line, check on my vitals, deal with medication changes, check on Baby:) and teach me how to deal with changing fluids, meds, and I was even taught how to put a catheter in my leg each day when my PICC line had to be pulled for complications. I had 3 separate PICC lines placed during that pregnancy due to the risk for infection that they bring with them. Migraines unfortunately are a problem come about my 11th week, which I assume have something again to due with the hormone changes compounded with the lack of good nutrition. This always lands me at the Drs to get a shot to finally break the migraine.

I did not have good care with my first three, the diagnoses was not even whispered, I am sure because of insurance reasons. This ended up causing multiple hospitalizations due to dehydration. So, even though, it is difficult to go through all of the treatment, and it doesn't really relieve the most obvious miserable symptoms, it keeps us together as a family, the baby healthy, and hope for getting through the nine months.

Now, with that said, I know, many people wonder "why in the world would she go through that over and over" That is very simple-all I have to do is look at the miracles each of my children are, and there is no question of "is it worth it?"-IT IS!!

The other question might be, "why dwell on all that difficulty, especially when you are most likely about to relive it?" The answer to that is kind of why I am writing this post. Remembering those valleys in our lives in turn reminds us of how God was faithful to get us through it! I can also see fruits that came from those times, especially in my children. They learned at a young age the blessing of helping one another, as well as the gift of life-how precious it is-what it is worth! I am also going to hopefully face this time with a chance to hang on to the simple blessing each day has. Already, we have begun to prepare for the worst, but pray for best!! I want to share that journey with each of you!! This will probably change a lot about this blog. At some point, if I do in fact go through this illness again, the shop may have to take a back seat, creating all together probably will. We are usually in a very basic survival mode around here, because I am bed ridden for a portion of the pregnancy. What I am hoping is that I can, at that point, at least muster enough mental power to connect and share about God's faithfulness.

So with this in mind, I want to share a few praises...

As some of you know, I was diagnosed with a heart condition 3 months ago. The medication, unfortunately is not safe during pregnancy, but my Dr believes that my heart issue has resolved itself-WOW!!! We are in the waiting period of no medication to make sure-how cool is that!!! Only three months and I thought forever!!!

Matt and I went out last night to look for a few things that the kids needed, and I was feeling the countdown quite overwhelming and the need to take care of it before I physically can't. I needed winter boots for Madison and found a super good pair at the thrift shop for pennies-Thank you Jesus!! Along with a few other needed pieces of clothing for the other kiddos that Matt will not have to worry about.

I was able to cut Noah's hair today and feel confident he will not need to have it done at a barbers, it can be done at home making less errands for Matt who becomes Mr Mom.

I was able to start a special family cookbook for the kids, who already know how to cook quite well. But this specific book will have recipes that are easy, cost efficient, and ones they enjoy and will not have to spend time hunting down. I am hoping to make a few new recipes in the coming weeks to test before I can't be around food. I have a few funny titles I am working on for this family crisis cookbook-to be announced;)

Madison made breakfast this morning-homemade doughnuts-YUMMY!! And yep-the kitchen is a bit dark but that is changing-yeah!!

Matt and I ventured out to the Re Store today and were blessed to find the light we needed for our kitchen at a fraction of the cost we thought we would be spending. Instead of saving until after Christmas, and Matt having to wrestle with home repair while being Mr Mom, we were able to knock that big need off our list today(and bring a little light into the kitchen for making Thanksgiving dinner) I will share pics when it is installed

We picked up a mini vacuum for hard wood floors to help with upkeep since i will not be able to keep up daily with the beloved dog hair, glitter, crumbs-ya know!! I remember that being such a silly but seriously aggravating problem during my pregnancy with Noah-isn't that funny! But even Noah loves using this new little vacuum, so we are set;)

I was able to move our antique guest bed up into our living room yesterday to use as a daybed. It will be a blessing for me to be able to rest in bed while being out with the kiddos instead of isolated in my bedroom.

I finished 6 pairs of mittens for the shop( I won't overwhelm with pics of all of them) and enjoyed it as a gift to sit at the machine.

I am trying to enjoy the preparation instead of feeling the pressure. I am working to soak in the moments and give thanks. I am replacing thoughts of fear with thoughts of Hope from the Lord, and I am just a bit giddy about the miracle that I will feel a wee one in my belly again!