Here's the view of my life lately...
No, I am NOT on bedrest, thank goodness. But I've been feeling pretty crappy lately. Starting Friday, I was having some VERY painful Braxton-Hicks contractions. They felt way more painful than I thought they should. That night we had our VERY dear friends Chris and Angie over for dinner. They are moving to California in less than a month, and I really wanted to have one last dinner where I cooked a good meal and they could just come over and relax. I BARELY had the energy to cook, so I just did something very effortless. They came over to a MESSY house, and by the time dinner was over, I was in so much pain I HAD to sit down with my feet up.
My sweet Angie cleaned my entire kitchen for me after dinner, wiped counters, etc. Oh, how difficult that is for me to receive, but I just didn't have a choice. The evening was NOT how I pictured it going when I invited them over. I really wanted to bless THEM, and instead they came over and cleaned my house and I made them a so-so meal. Oh well. Anyhow, as much as I love Jon, I think I might trade him for Angie until she moves. :) Because she also straightened up my house for me...put away all of Mylo's toys, etc.!!I spent the rest of the weekend RELAXING as much as possible. I did have to lead worship (Saturday night and 2 Sunday services), but I sit on a stool the whole time. :) And between services instead of walking around socializing, I just sat. So that was okay.
Sunday night we decided to run some errands, and 10 minutes into the first store I started having the painful contractions again. Felt terrible again the rest of the night. So first thing Monday morning, I called my ob/gyn's office and explained the situation. They wanted to see me right away. They did a urine sample and a stress test. Everything was normal with the stress test...the baby looks fine. (Praise God!) But I have a UTI! I don't FEEL like I have a UTI, but apparantly I do. And I guess they can cause contractions...and if left untreated can turn into a kidney infection and possibly send you into early labor! So I'm glad we caught that!
So I'm trying to take things as EASY as possible, which is no small task when you have a toddler! Cleaning has completely gone by the wayside. I always do my grocery shopping on Mondays. I plan our meals for the week and get it all done in one trip. Which as most of you know, grocery shopping with a 17 month old is quite exhausting. So yesterday I waited until Jon got home from work and went by myself.
And yes, I used one of these bad boys. :) Oh how glorious it was. I am using one from here on out everywhere I go. As I passed all the old ladies and people with broken legs I felt this unspoken commradery with them. If it had a horn, I would have given a couple of quick honks to my fellow handicappers as we passed.
Here's my problem with people though. I get up to the check-out lane, get myself out of my new best friend on wheels, and begin to load my groceries onto the belt. Since it was about 8pm at this point, I am exhausted from the day, and I'm sure you could tell just by looking at me. I waddling between my cart and the belt, tiredly lifting each item as I held my belly up since it felt like it was going to fall off. There was a man in front of me, and a man behind me. Each of them just watched me do this. C'MON PEOPLE! Why don't you help a pregnant lady out?! Obviously YOU'RE not pregnant, you could take a moment to help me out. Several times I looked at the man behind me and he was just staring at me probably thinking, "Poor lady...she looks like she's having a tough time." Then I wheeled myself out to my car, which was of course in a handicap parking space. :) I had SEVERAL employees pass me as I struggled to get my heavy grocery bags into the back of my car. Did anyone stop and offer help? No. And even several non-employees zoomed by me, gave me that "Oh, poor thing looks like she's really struggling" look, and didn't offer any help. I know its not common these days to do something like that...I mean I COULD try to murder them and shove them in the back of my Mazda Mom-Mobile or something. It just kind of blows my mind that people just watch you struggle without offering any help. Not saying I'm THE BEST at this, but there's something about the grocery store that brings out the helper in me. Usually when I'm done unloading my groceries onto the belt to check-out, I start helping the person behind me unload there's while I'm waiting for my turn. I mean, why not?! Or I've been out in the parking lot and seen mom's with a boat-load of groceries plus small children and offered my help. I mean, what an easy thing to do, if you're able of course, and it just blesses people. If someone had stopped to help me, I would have been blessed beyond measure!
So here's my challenge to everyone:
Take a look around today and see how you can help someone. The grocery store has about a bazillion opportunities to do so, but really EVERYWHERE there's an opportunity to help someone. It'll just bless them, and bless you in return!
6 comments:
As I was reading I was thinking you have a UTI. I had lots of those while pregnant with Ian and sent me into early contractions because I kept getting them.They couldn't use the big antibiotics with my pregnancy so I don't think much was done about the infections. I never felt the infection either. Most pregnant ladies don't have usual symptoms. Drink lots of fluids and cranberry juice.It should help flush those nasty bacterias out of there. I know how you feel and you need to take it easy. I hope you get rest this week. :)
I know what you mean when you talk about people not helping anymore. I know it's not common place, but sheesh...have some compassion people. I experiences the same sort of thing when I was pregnant with my second and carrying around my toddler as well. I think people are just afraid to help because they thinnk you might think they are a crazy person or something. I remember helping people at the grocery store all the time, but I worked there so the uniform gave it away that I was an okay person. Now I know I don't do it as much as I should. Since it's not my "job" anymore I don't go out of the way to look for those people that need help. Thanks for the reminder though. I will try to notice those everyday people that God puts in our path and help them out.
I've actually helped a couple people in line behind me load their stuff onto the belt as they were sitting in those fun-mobiles! They REALLY appreciated it! So go to it people, give out a helping hand!!
You poor thing! Those men should be ashamed of themselves. Sometimes I wonder if chivalry is dead!
By the way....you can find Mr.Peacock on babystyle.com :)
I hope that you are starting to feel some better now that you are getting treated for the UTI. I still think its a great idea to get off your feet as often as you can (which I know is hard to do with a toddler). Just think of it as trying to get some much needed "rest" before you have 2 little ones to run after!!
Thanks also for the reminder to take time to do something thoughtful, helpful or special for people. If we all did that, what an amazing way of sharing God's love with others.
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