My Parents Are There For Me When I Need It Most

My parents always seem to be in the right place at the right time when I really need them.  It seems to happen by coincidence or by some other miraculous way.  Here is a time when they happened to be there for me when I really needed it.

My parents were visiting for the birth of my second child.  They came to help out with my 2 1/2 year old daughter (at the time), and they came in from DC as we were living in Peoria, IL at the time.  They were great at helping out and taking care of things at home.  In any case, things were moving along smoothly.  I had a normal delivery and I was headed home a few days after the birth.

About two days after being home I started to get sharp pains in the middle of my stomach.  My husband said to take a warm bath (that’s the cure-all in his family for ailments), but even after the bath I felt terrible.  My parents and husband told me to call my OB just in case it had something to with the delivery.

I called my OB and she asked me a few questions.  It wasn’t until she asked if I was nauseas that it became more serious.  I said, “No, not at all.  In fact I am not hungry at all.  I’ve haven’t had much to eat in a couple of days.  I just have no appetite.”  She said to go into the ER immediately.  I got a bit nervous and it was almost midnight.  I had a newborn at home that was a few days old and would NOT take the bottle at all, and my young daughter was fast asleep.  My dad said he would drive me to the hospital so my husband could stay and tend to the kids.

I got there, did some tests, and found out that even though the pain was not on my side I needed an appendectomy ASAP.  My dad was tired, so I told him to go home and help  there.  I knew my husband would be up most of the night with our newborn, feeding him with a small tube along his finger.  Other than breastfeeding, that was the only way to feed him.

I went into surgery at 4:30am.  Everything went well, but it was strange being right back in the same hospital that I had just spent days in.  My parents were there to help my husband with bringing our newborn back and forth to the hospital.  I would feed him when he was there and then pump for them to take some milk home.  They also helped with my daughter and it was just a blessing they happened to be there.

Another time when they were visiting in Peoria we ended up in the ER again.  My son, daughter, and I all picked up a vicious virus and could not stop throwing up.  My husband was not in town and they were super helpful during that terrible time as well.

I am lucky to have such wonderful and helpful parents.  They are coming to visit us in Rhode Island this Thanksgiving.  I hope we have a fabulous and uneventful time together with no trips to the ER!

Do you have family that is there for you when you need it?  What time were they the most helpful?

*Reposted from aMomKnowsBest where I am a contributing writer.

Kristin

Comments

  1. Oh wow! I almost started crying when I read this! I’m so glad your parents were there for you and everything is okay!

    When my 2nd son was born, my parents were staying to take care of my then 2 year old. A few days after the birth, my 2 year old fell at the playground and cut his lip…blood everywhere. We took him to the ER and I’m so thankful that a) I didn’t have to take my newborn to the ER and b) I could go WITH my hubby and son, who needed me, while I left my newborn with my parents. Thank God for parents!

  2. Wow I’m so glad you are ok. My inlaws were there when I had Kenzie b/c Hubs was only with me for the 1st week since he was working in another state at that time. It was sooooo difficult especially having MIL up in my breastfeeding but I do appreciate them 🙂

  3. Tears built up in my eyes reading this. I cannot imagine how hard it was to leave your newborn and be back in the hospital. I would have had about 10 panic attacks in there! My father and step mother are the most helpful. They always offer to watch our son (never took them up on it yet) and if there is anything we run out of they always bring it over. They are there a lot for emotional support as well.

  4. The family is such a great help. This is very inspiring

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