When Brent and I stood next to each other on our wedding day, we made a lot of promises. One of those promises was to love each other in sickness and in health.
I'll be the first to admit I do a pretty poor job of this. The "in sickness part" is hard for me if it involves puke. And if it involves being helpless to take it away.
A week and a half ago Blythe started running a fever. She acted fine but when she woke up from an uncharacteristically long nap and her temperature had jumped to just shy of 105* I was concerned. My pediatrician was out of the office so I shot him a message shortly after five [he's awesome and checks these messages and responds pretty quickly]. He responded a little before 8 and said we needed to take her to the ER. He was concerned she had a UTI [she had one when she was pretty little] with a spiking fever. My mom sat with a sleeping Becks and we loaded up the van and woke up Blythe. "Where are we going?" she asked as we slipped some warmer pants on her. When I said we needed to go to the doctor her little sick eyes perked up and she was excited. Bless her soul.
I figured she would fall asleep right away once we got in the van, but those big brown eyes stayed wide open the entire way to the hospital. By 10 o'clock we were in, and they swabbed her nose [which was a horrible experience and done very poorly] to check and see if it was Influenza A, and then we were off to the bathroom to try and get a sample to test for the UTI. By the time we got back from the bathroom it was confirmed: Influenza A.
She stayed awake the majority of the way home and finally got to bed about midnight. The next two days were very rough. It was so hard for me to not be able to take the sickness and hurt and pain away from her. She was exhausted but couldn't sleep. And I was powerless.
I cried some. I prayed over her and with her. I refilled and refilled humidifiers. I made her favorite foods. I kept a list of times and amounts of medicine on the bathroom mirror. But I couldn't take it away.
And I realized that when I made that promise to Brent, I also made it to the children we would have together in the future. In sickness and in health, I will be your mom. In sickness and in health, I will hold you and sing to you. In sickness and in health, I will love you the best I can.
Brent was awesome to help the moment he walked in the door in any way he could, even when he didn't feel well himself. In sickness and in health.
And my mom stopped by everyday to check on Blythe. But I know she was really checking on me, too. She would bring juice and Emergen-C, and Kleenexes, and anything we needed! I felt bad that she was exposing herself to the nasty flu, and that she was bringing us stuff. But then I realized: she, too, was just being a mom in sickness and in health.
I brought her a candle as a little thank you when we had all acquiesced, and I think she understood it was for taking care of me 29 years and not just when Blythe was sick.
When they are throwing up, it may be difficult. Even though sickness is tough, and exhausting, and you want so badly to take it away from those you love, sometimes it is harder to love in the everyday. Sometimes it's harder to love when their food is stuck to the floor, or when they haven't napped for three days straight. Sometimes it's hard to love in health.
But in 10 years, and in 29 years, and in 35 years I hope my family says I took care of them in sickness and in health.
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2 comments:
In sickness is so hard, but just as important. This is such a sweet post. Your Brent is blessed to have you as a wife and your sweet girls are blessed to have you as their mama. They will always know you love them, in sickness and in health. It's true. I'm glad you're all feeling better [right?] and hope that sickness is gone from your house. ... How scary that you had to take Blythe to the hospital! That picture of her on the big bed is just so sad. I hate having a sick baby because there is nothing you can really do to make it better or take it away from them.
This is SO good. And it should be noted, your daughter didn't just have her nose "swabbed." She is my hero for being able to go through that, not only once, but TWICE. Such a sweet, strong girl, a lot like her momma. :)
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