Internal Struggle

I've been struggling with myself whether or not to blog about this...obviously I decided I would. But here's my disclaimer. I am not telling this story to get you to say, "oh, poor, poor Emily." I want to tell this story because of how blessed our family is. You have no idea how much I have come to appreciate all my close friends and neighbors.

Friday night we had a really good night with some really good friends. We went to the temple, and then B-lined it over to the church house for some dessert. I heart dessert. After eating about half I decided that I wasn't feeling too hot so I threw out the rest. Well.

We hung out a little longer with our friends and then decided to head home. We brought home our sitter, and then I talked Chance into letting me read while he went to sleep (with earplugs.) I read for about an hour and then turned out the light. About 20 minutes later I woke up with some crazy, painful cramping. See, most pregnant women won't tell you the craziness that is your intestines during pregnancy. And if they DON'T have crazy intestines ~ they need to keep it to themselves.

ANYWHO ~ I thought I was going to pass out. I was lying in my hallway thinking to myself, "Chance has earplugs in. He can't hear me if I call for him." At this point I was in a lot of pain, and my arms decided to go numb. I'm freaking out because I'm wondering if I'm having some kind of stroke...fun times.

Well I stumble into our bedroom, shove Chance and basically start demanding that he help me. He ran into the kitchen to get me some tylenol (my entire body felt like it was on fire) and then decided to get some consecrated oil so that he could give me a priesthood blessing. As he was gone, my hands decided to start freezing up. I couldn't move them, and I couldn't feel them.

Time to call 911. The paramedics come, bombarded me with questions (which I'm not feeling so inclined to answer...I get a little grumpy when I'm in a lot of pain...) and then told Chance that they couldn't see anything there. They suggested I get checked out at the hospital ~ so I stumbled, barefoot, down the stairs, into the freezing cold and went for a most-memorable ride to the hospital. PS ~ getting an IV in an ambulance? Not one of my all-time fav's.

Chance stayed home so he could find someone to watch our kids. What's amazing is that he arrived at the hospital only about 5 minutes after me. I love my man. Okay so the final outcome of this? They think I was having a food-reaction. Lactose Intolerance? Perhaps. The reason my arms were going numb? Hyperventilation. Who knew? The doctor mentioned how pregnancy messes with your body (no....really?!) and how problems can get a whole lot worse during pregnancy (again.....noo, are ya' sure about that?). So in the last few days I've avoided milk after about 12:00noon. So far, so good. Oh, and one more thing. Here's an ER tip: When going to the ER, make it a point to find some shoes, or SLIPPERS or something. Going home after the ER with bare feet, a T-shirt and no coat? Not so fun. Chance said he'd try to find some matching pajama's for next time as well. Those red plaid pajama pants and camo shirt didn't really hit it off with the nursing staff. Hey ~ at least we looked like we belonged together, right?

Now. Here's the point of this whole story. Do you have any idea how many phone calls, visits and even dinners have been offered and brought into our home?!? So many that I feel pretty unworthy. I phoned ONE friend Saturday morning who brought our Morgan over to the Church for a service project. She then called me right back offering to take ALL of our children that day. She kept Morgan at her house the ENTIRE DAY to play... AND she also showed up that night with some more good friends of ours and brought us dinner. HELLO?! You guys are amazing. AMAZING.

Oh, and then there is our good neighbor a couple of doors down who came over Friday night at MIDNIGHT to sleep on our couch so that Chance could be with me at the hospital. She then called me on Saturday asking to bring us dinner. I got another great visit that evening from yet another good friend bringing me chocolate and support. She wanted to make sure I was okay. Does it end here?! Uh...no.

Sunday came, and with it brought about 8 inches of snow. Grace was sick, Chance was snowplowing, and I was home in my pajama's. Well guess who shows up to shovel our driveway? Oh, only about 1/2 of our Young Men's group from church. You guys are great. THANK YOU. Later that night we even got cookies from one of our neighbors 2 doors down the OTHER side of us. Seriously?!

I so appreciate all the thoughts and acts of service on our behalf. I cannot believe how loved we are. Let me just say though ~ the feeling is definitely mutual. Us Bailey's are so blessed. THANK YOU everyone for helping me and my family this last weekend. We love you ALL.