Being a mom...No Joke

Being a mom is one of the most wonderful things in the world.  I know all you “moms” out there already know this…But I am just beginning to realize it.  It is amazing to me how God blesses us with children and I feel so honored that he entrusted us with her life. That gift is incredible…So incredible.

With being a mom comes crazy responsibility.  On our trip to Chicago Abby wasn’t acting quite right…She had a terrible night sleep on Friday night.  I figured it was a fluke and took care of her all night figuring it would pass.  We got about three hours of sleep maybe five hours total, but Abby was up about every 30-45 minutes.  I am not exaggerating on this and those of you who have been up this much during the night know how miserable it is.  Then we went to New York for the day (see blog post about Andy and Brittany engagement) and Midge and Paul had Abby. They said she was fine during the day but didn’t nap much, and then at about 8:00 pm, really didn’t sleep and wouldn’t stop crying.  They picked us up from the airport in Chicago and we were excited to see our poor, sleepy baby. 

We tried going to sleep and Abby wouldn’t lay down. So, we started night 2 of holding her, hoping for some sleep, even if it was 45 minutes.   About 90 minutes into our slumber (and we were exhausted, no sleep the night before + day walking around in NYC = tired) Abby woke up SCREAMING.  She doesn’t do this.  I looked at Steve said, “Something is wrong” and we started dialing numbers to find an urgent care.  There were none in the area, so we went to the emergency room.

Abby came out with an ear infection and 4-5 hours later we were back in our hotel room with some antibiotics.  Abby slept in our arms again, but was a little more peaceful.  We were much happier as we knew we weren’t crazy and that our baby wasn’t feeling well.

After going to the doctor we had our first 3 hour stretch of sleep in 3 nights!  Oh, that was incredible.  Then we gave Abby to grandma and grandpa for a bit and slept for another 90 minutes (without a baby this time, and let me tell you, that was heaven!)

We went to the engagement party and Abby held it together as best as she could.  She wasn’t her smiley self, but wasn’t crying the entire time either.  It was sad that others didn’t get to see our happy baby, but I am glad she wasn’t screaming.  We drove home from Chicago that night and had two 45 minute bits of crying on our 4.5 hour drive home.  Other than that, Abby slept.

She is now on the mend.  Sleeping in her own bed and giving us 5 hours of sleep at a time.  She is back to her normal nap schedule and is eating solid foods again (apples, bananas, carrots, and peas). 

All that to say….Being a mom is no joke.  You completely sacrifice yourself for this little one and don’t think twice about doing it.  Usually when I do something I have to think, “Wow, this is hard, is it really worth it?”  When it comes to Abby, that doesn’t even go through my mind, I just do it.  I stay up all night, I hold her till she falls asleep, I make the silly faces to make her smile, I bounce her up and down even though my arms are killing me…as a mom, you just do whatever you have to do to make that baby happy…and, you will do whatever you have to do to get her well…Even if it is spending 4 hours in an emergency room, driving for 30 minutes after that to a Walgreens, waiting there for 45 minutes to fill a prescription (which was ridiculous mind you, no one else was there, it should have taken about 10 minutes to fill)…You just do it, because you are a mom.  I am not “tooting my own horn on this” because I know EVERY OTHER mom who is reading this would do the exact same thing…

and we have a happy baby girl....(momma loves her new camera...No editing on these pics!)