A little bug takes down the house....

Whew.
It's Thursday. The last thing I said to Sarah today is "you're in charge." The last thing I said to Glen was "Sophie sure is quiet."
I get up to peek in the living room (because I live in fear of Nancy Grace making me a subject of her show) and my two darling children have made pallets on the floor and are laying peacefully beside each other. Watching Dora.

We are thankful that they are feeling so content today...the house has been turned upside down since Monday.

Monday evening I came down with one violent stomach bug. As far as I know I hadn't been around anyone with one. Could have been food poisoning I guess. We'll never know. But it was bad. If I could have figured out how to logistically get to the hospital I would have gone. I think.

The last time this happened, we (Glen and I) boarded a plane bound for China less than 24 hours after the onset. I remember it like it was yesterday. Dr Phil started, I got sick....next day as Dr Phil started we were walking into the airport bound for China. As I've been recovering this week I've been able to see even more how God walked with me that week. I remember nearly passing out going from the domestic terminal to the international terminal in San Francisco. I still see that looooong corridor stretched out before me. I remember Glen asking the night before when I was sick "should we call the agency? Postpone the trip a day or 2?". And as weak as I was, even though I couldn't walk from the toilet to the bed....Satan would not have this. It was that Mama Bear in me rising up as I said "I'm going to get my baby...on time. No one will tell her I couldn't come." They were big words for a girl who could barely move, but it was that mustard seed of faith that God needed to get me through.
Most of the overseas part of the flight is a blur to me. Considering it's a 14 hour flight, wow. Nice.
But at some point I remember trying to eat the roll. I was too weak to pick it up. Glen fed it to me. And I remember praying "Lord, I'll take all of this if it will just be ok when I hold Sarah."
My next memory is walking into our hotel room in Hong Kong and realizing "I'm ok".
The next day was my recovery day...I had to fill my empty tummy in Hong Kong. This is hilarious to those that know me and how picky of a picky eater I am. Seeing the "fish and something" Pringles wasn't the answer I was looking for.
Still weak and tired and jet lagged and about to become a mommy...I don't remember anything else much about that part of the trip.
But every moment after landing in Changsha is etched in my memory. In my heart of hearts. I will never forget my labor and delivery of Sarah.

It's interesting when I look back on the "labors" of Sarah and Sophie. Those moments seem perfect in describing my relationships with each of them. Sarah, she happens "to" me. And I'm not sure I can even accurately describe what I mean. My entire being feels everything that happens between us. Good and bad. We butt heads and then move on. We love with everything in us. When we have really difficult times, it kills me, reduces me to nothing, but I'll use my last ounce to get back on track.
Then there is Sophie. You know I call her Hurricane. We landed in Changsha the very day of the onset of the worst natural disaster the province had seen in 80+ years. The entire trip was surreal. An ice storm the entire time. My "labor" with Sophie was a storm. She happens in the "midst" of me. And even though we heard they were deicing the planes with, ummm, boiling water....I was going to board and I was going to get my daughter. Going from day to day never knowing when we would have to pack up and run out the door to the airport...was just part of it. At 5pm we're all talking about what a strange trip it is and which hotel restaurant to eat in tonight; at 510pm we are told "pack your essentials!! get downstairs in 10 mins you leave tonight!!!" No fancy goodbyes, no packing carefully for the flight. Just grab what you have to have and go!!! We eventually got out on a flight that was never on the books. It never happened.
Yes, every day that's how I feel with Sophie. She's a whirlwind of activity. Joyful, wonderful, activity. Her temper flares up without notice and freezes everything around her. Her giggle picks you right up. But when she goes down for a nap or bedtime...I collapse. It's all this hurried activity and then stillness. And you long to see her again but wish she'd be a bit slower.

It's funny how God can help you in situations long before you knew they were situations. And He does. He longs to.

And He's helped us this week. Glen has been able to be home, while I lay non-functioning in bed. He's at work now. Which must feel like a vacation.

I'm behind on everything now. Cleaning, errands, school.... I had planned for this to be such a fun week before school started. Hmmmmm.....

"We plan. God laughs." (sorry..don't know who to credit for that and I'm too tired to Google it. :) )