It seems a little redundant to say that summer flew by...because when I think about it, it always does. There are only two summers that I can recall sort of wishing away, as time seemed to drag. There was the summer of 1990, where I was anxiously awaiting August 28th, the day I would finally get to see New Kids On the Block in person. And then, there was the summer of 2003, where the days were infinitely long.
The beginning of June flew by. I was finally able to enjoy food without reaching for my trusty friend, Zofran every 6 hours, which still to this day I believe is a miracle drug. I even enjoyed swimming and most of my normal summer activities. We began working on the nursery,gifts began to trickle in, and we began preparing for the arrival of our threesome. Compared to my first trimester, things just seemed to be going well. So, it was a real blow when I was placed on bed rest at week 26, the second week of July. I felt fine. It was hard to comprehend that the doctor was saying, I was showing signs of pre-term labor. As the doctor explained, that I would need to limit all activities, I explained that I would take it easy and only attend church, to which she threatened to place me in the hospital. Well, that got my attention. I didn't want any part of that so I began my routine of the model mommy on bed rest. The goal was to at least get to the beginning of August. Except for doctors appointments, I began my confinement, to either the bed or the couch, with frequent trips to the kitchen and bathroom. My daily routine consisted of waking up, walking to the couch, taking my blood pressure, strapping on a contraction monitoring device for 20 minutes, waiting for the service to call me back and tell me how many contractions I had, eat breakfast, watch a baby story, take a bath, talk on the phone, eat lunch, take a nap, watch television, try to get comfortable, monitor contractions again, have a snack, watch television, watch the paint on the walls, eagerly await Rick coming home from work so he could join my misery & fix me some dinner (I was starving) watch television,monitor contractions, wait for call, eat a snack, and then try to sleep. Yes, it was a fascinating daily schedule. Poor Rick, in addition to cooking, cleaning,and grocery shopping, he spent many evenings trying to entertain me. We worked crossword puzzles and he even attempted to paint my toenails one evening. For the most part, my time spent on bed rest was pretty uneventful. One evening, according to the contraction moniter, I failed it three times but after taking some breathenine, I was able to calm my uterus and avoided a trip to the hospital. I had to take breathenine on several occasions, but all things considered it could have been so much worse.
I truly look back and think how I should have appreciated that time more, but I was pregnant, MISERABLE, and eager to meet my babies. I've also never been one to just lie around and do nothing so I definintely went a little stir crazy. There were a few times that I left the house to attend a friends baby shower or out to dinner for my birthday, but for the most part, I really tried to obey the doctors orders. I do remember one evening late in August that Rick decided to have dinner at some friends house and lets just say I wasn't exactly happy. To be fair, I was really close to having a mental break down, so while he was gone, I drove (which was something I hadn't done in over a month) to Walgreens and bought some nail polish. As a typical rule follower, it was a real rebel moment!
So my summer 10 years ago was a stark contrast to every summer since, where I always wish the days on the calendar woudn't pass so quickly. When it comes to summer, there is just never enough time, enough watermelon, enough ice cream, enough lazy mornings, enough snow cones, enough time with friends, enough sunshine and so on. I will always want more.
I feel like we didn't do anything extremely memorable, but we still found the joy in all things that are summer.
I can't believe my babies will soon be ten. (I may suffer another mental breakdown next month.. beware) When I look at them, happy & healthy, I feel beyond blessed and so grateful for every day, hour, & minute, God gave me the strength to carry them another day.
