So, it hit and it hit
HARD!
I had had some nausea when pregnant with my boys but it usually hit for
maybe an hour or 2 in the evenings and went away promptly. Not this time....
this time it started and (even though there have been pockets of time where it
severely lessens) it hasn't stopped. The nausea also picked the same day
I contracted the nasty throat cold going around to show up AND I think it
called in a favor and got the first heatwave of the summer to arrive at the
same time too! I'm talking the "perfect storm" of nausea, swollen
throat and extreme heat all rolled up into one! The first day I barely got out
of bed because I just felt like a ball of goop.
Luckily for me, the
nausea has not been severe enough to cause vomiting but it's like extremely bad
car sickness that just kind of lingers.
Ok I think you get the
picture. It gets worse then it gets better. I inhale whatever I can stomach
when the thought of food doesn't repulse me but by the time I've finished a
meal it's already starting up again.
Interesting trivia fact:
Did you know that one of the theories why pregnant women are so nauseous in the
first trimester is because it's believed that our bodies are trying to keep us
away from any type of food that could be hurtful to baby in the crucial first
few months when the REALLY important stuff is developing. Now a days we tend to
cook our food safer and choose our food wiser but back in olden days when they
didn't know about germs and mold and dangers of certain foods, it's believed
the nausea would help women ingest safer foods for baby. I found that so
interesting and SO like our God to put that safety net into our bodies!
Ok back to the last week
and the title of this post. A few days into my "perfect storm",
Daniel (my husband) had to go run his annual Youth Retreat for 3 days, also
when the heat spiked to the hottest 3 days of the week. My goal for the time
was "keep the tiny humans alive." That's it: feed them, water them
(yes it sounds like I was taking care of house plants), put them to bed and
repeat.
We made it through the 3
days but needless to say that when Daddy got home the house was thrashed,
dishes were a mile high and one of the first things I asked him was "can
you make dinner?"
And here, my friends, is
where I introduce you to my hero....my husband, Daniel Grant. This amazing man
had given 110% of his time and energy to a group of 14 high schoolers for 3
days and walks into a tornado of a house and jumps on the floor with his 3
boys and wrestles with them for at least at 30 min before walking into the
kitchen to prepare us dinner. And that is only the beginning.
Over the last week he
has done all the dishes, cooked almost all the dinners, put the boys to bed
every night, continued to do his duties at church and his custodial duties as
well. I can see he is tired and it's hard to have to do so many of the
household chores plus his own work as well but each time I think my next
request will push him over the edge he just replies, "I got it!"
without any hesitation.
You see, he is the
unsung hero of this surrogacy journey. People will tell me "oh you are
such an amazing person to do this for someone else" and all I want to do
is step aside and point at the man with three little blonde monkeys hanging off
of him, who is still smiling and keeping our house running and say, "no
it's not me, it's him who is amazing".
When we went to our
psychological evaluation for this journey, his interview was just as important
as mine because they KNOW how important the husband is in this journey.
And on top of ALL of it,
he's doing it all for a child that is not even his. He's giving up his free
time and adding on tons of extra jobs to keep this family going while I
navigate the nausea and ligament pain and fatigue. Every night as we go
to bed he is praying over this little girl growing inside of me, for her to
know and love Christ all her days! This may not be his child but he cares
and takes his responsibility as my caretaker for this pregnancy just as
seriously as he did for our own children.
So, this is the unsung
hero of surrogacy, my husband! I love him more than I could EVER put into words
on a piece of paper. It's been interesting for me because I've found I
love him in a new dimension now. They say as the years go on in marriage your
love for each other can change and grow in ways you never imagined. Like the
first time I saw him hold our son in the hospital. Or the way he held me as our
world fell apart when we miscarried our first child.
My love for him has
grown because I've learned to love him in so many ways! And now I've grown to
love him as a surrogate dad to this little girl. In no way is he trying to
become a dad to this little life, but he is performing his role of caretaker
and true provider for me as I grow this little life and I love him even more
for it!
Daniel, you are the true
head of this family! You love your sons more than life itself! You provide for
us, support us, and make it possible for me to stay home and be with our
children each and every day. You've made it possible for me to also teach
our children from home! I could never tell you how much I love and appreciate
and respect the man that you are who leads this family! Thank you for choosing
to ride this crazy roller coaster called life with me! Thank you for pointing
me back to God on the good and bad nights. And thank you for taking care of
myself, little Embie and our 3 boys as we continue this crazy, amazing journey!
