Bump Day: 31 weeks (and a day)

It’s been a pretty rough couple of weeks in our household. It started with Jonathan being on a 10 day business trip to Thailand, from which he returned with some South East Asian version of the common cold. As soon as he was semi-recovered, it was my turn to deal with a runny nose, hacking cough, and migraine-esque sinus headaches. 

And if that weren’t enough, in the midst of the worst of my symptoms, Jonathan was struck down by a mysterious ankle injury. He doesn’t remember any trauma occurring, just that suddenly his ankle was causing him some of the worst pain of his life. He’s been laid up for 3 days now, and after a strict regimen of steroids and prescription strength anti-inflammatories, his pain is finally manageable, though the culprit is still a mystery. 

On Tuesday, when he first saw the orthopedic doctor, the doctor thought it might be gout. It was really the only thing that fit with his symptoms. However, all of his tests came back normal. He went back today for further consultation and blood tests, and he’ll have some MRI/X-rays if it’s still bothering him by Monday. The doctor is totally stumped. It’s like an episode of House over here. Let’s just hope it isn’t Lupus… (sorry, inside House joke).  

Please please please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. I know he is in pain and I also know how frustrating it can be to not have an answer or diagnosis for what you’re going through. Please pray for the doctor to have discernment and an effective treatment regimen to get Jon back to his healthy self. At 31 weeks pregnant, I really need him to be 100%, especially since we have our big Scotland trip planned for the end of next week. I would so hate to cancel, but I can’t imagine it would be much fun if Jon has a useless ankle. Anyway, back to me… 

Long story short, taking a weekly Bump picture has been pretty low on the totem pole of surviving this week, which is why I’m a little behind. Jonathan managed to hobble outside this afternoon and was able to take some shots of the bump against the side of the house, though making it up the stairs into the garden was out of the question.

At 31 weeks pregnant I am hitting a wall. I’m tired and lazy and emotional. That could be the head cold talking though... who knows? It hasn’t been the easiest week of my pregnancy, that’s for sure. But baby boy is growing and wiggling, constantly giving me little jabs in the ribs to let me know that he is doing just fine. 

I think God is using this time as ‘mommy training’, teaching me how to push through my own tiredness and physical discomfort for the sake of my family. I haven’t handled it with the most grace in the world, but I’m praying that the Lord would help me put aside my selfishness and resentment to focus outside of myself. It’s much harder than it sounds, especially when sleep deprivation and raging hormones come into play. 

No, it hasn’t been the easiest week of my pregnancy, that’s for stinkin' sure. Hence the tired look in my eyes in the pics this week... Here you go: