Trial of Pain

November 3, 2013
Excuse me while I write a little on pregnancy and child bearing...it's quite in the forefront of my thoughts...having just given birth to my 3rd baby two weeks ago.
Emotions are still strong, though more tame by now :) This child brought a different round of emotions and trials. There were normal pregnancy pains and adjustments as the body grows outward and prepares for a new life to be born. And then there were extra 'pains'...like the idiotic move I made (not wearing socks and shoes) while camping at John Johnson farm and received over 100 chigger bites on each leg. I had multiple bites on each toe and all over my foot, ankle and a little up my leg. That. Was. Painful. The first few days I felt like my legs were on fire and all I wanted to do was chop them off. I was almost praying for a bone saw to take the pain away. I had to slather my legs in lavender oil and baking soda or Caladryl as well as blow dry each bite to the point of pain and just shy of the point where you think you're going to burn your leg so that it would release natural histamine and take away some of the itching sensation. That was for about two weeks straight before it started to die down a bit. To go outside, I would wrap my feet in bandages so that the straps of my sandals wouldn't rub alot on my feet. And sandals were the absolute only thing I could remotely tolerate. It was a lesson I won't soon forget. I also got an infection which caused some discomfort until antibiotics took care of it.
And then there was the tumor scare. Looking back, it was somewhat emotionally draining to have to worry about whether the lumps on my breasts that I found were malignant or benign and have to wait for appointments, ultrasounds, and biopsy results. I had been getting the house ready, clothes washed, car seat cleaned out and repurposed from pink to blue...and then I had to switch gears from anxiously wanting to meet this little baby to hoping that he would not come for several more weeks until all the tests were ran and results received so that I could make sure that I could proceed to breastfeed this baby as planned and/or wait for the baby to come out and have some time to breastfeed before they went in and removed the lumps.
Sitting in church today, two weeks out from delivering this sweet baby boy, and I look back on all that happened-healthwise-while waiting to bring this baby into the world. There were alot of painful moments. Many days were I never felt 100%. The lack of sleep that I now experience while waking up every 2-3 hours to feed baby Kent is not really an adjustment for me because I was not sleeping well before he arrived. For several months I would not be able to sleep past 4 am. It was either tossing in bed, or wandering around the kitchen or bathroom.