I remember coming home from the open house and laying on my left side on the sofa, praying the pains would go away. Then, I told David we needed to go to the hospital. I was fully prepared for a quick check up and we'd be home in time to watch the finale of So You Think You Can Dance. But, nothing went as I planned. Within an hour, I was kissing the kids and David goodbye and calling my Mom to have her come up from Phoenix to stay with the kids while David drove down to Phoenix to meet me.
My liver was about to rupture. My kidney's were not functioning properly. My blood platelets were dangerously low. My blood pressure was extremely high. I got a steroid shot to help Noah's lungs. I got an IV full of magnesium to stop seizures. If I had one, the baby wouldn't get oxygen. Magnesium makes you want to puke, so I did that and got a catheter in. Within a few hours of meeting Emily's Kindergarten teacher, I was being loaded on a stretcher (feels like an ironing board) and whisked away in this.
It was the scariest night of my life. Even now, I can barely wrap my head around it. I hadn't heard of HELLP syndrome and didn't know a whole lot about preeclampsia, so the fact that I had both was troubling, but since I couldn't google my diseases, I didn't realize that what I had was life threatening. Ignorance is bliss. Well, it may not have been bliss, but it was probably a good thing that we didn't understand how bad I was. Until the Doctor informs David and I that women die of this sort of thing all the time in Afghanistan.
And I thanked God that I wasn't in Afghanistan.
For more than just the obvious reasons.
But, that was last year and this is now.
And now comes the fun stuff...meeting Emily's first grade teacher.
FIRST GRADE!
Emily was quiet and shy, but not as much as last year. We walked down the long hallways to the first glade classrooms. And her teacher had a monkey bulletin board with a bunch of bananas on it outside her classroom.
We introduced her to Mrs. Smith and she seemed very nice. Emily was more interested in checking everything out. Which was fine as about a dozen other people were there too. Emily sat at her desk and looked at her text book. Her very first real official text book. Last year, they had workbooks. She looks so proud of herself.
And we couldn't be more proud of her. She's a great little girl and a wonderful student. I can't wait to see all that first grade has in store for her.
3 comments:
Oh My Gosh! I am sitting here almost crying myself. First to rehash all of what was going on just one short year ago... to know all that you went through for the next month following that eventful helicopter ride( and to think people sometimes do it for fun!) and to realize again how blessed both you and Noah were that all went according to the way God planned it.Then to remember that Emily was starting her public school career w/out her Mommy there is so sad. BUT, on the brighter side a year later she looks spectacular and even though a little quiet,it is bittersweet to see her so grown up and ready to tackle the books. I know she will have a great year and I hope she gets as much out of the year in First Grade as she did in KDG. It's truly amazing to look back and see and know how much she's grown this past year.
Thanks for sharing . Your kids are so lucky to have this journal/blog for the rest of their lives to look back on and be able to remember all these special times. ☼
Love,
G.
Very sweet. I'm sure Emily is going to have a fantastic First Grade!! :) Love those grades - I was on FB the other night chatting for an hour with Sarah's 2nd Grade Teacher. :)
Super exciting! So happy you'll be able to get Emily ready for her first day of first grade. She will do awesome, of course. She's just that kind of girl!
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