A Mother’s Love

I made it to my 28^th week of an HG pregnancy! Thank the Lord for sustaining me thus far.

One of my biggest supporters throughout this pregnancy has been my mom. I don’t think I appreciate her nearly as much as I should. Only a mother would do half the things she’s done for me to help me survive the hyperemesis.

I stayed at my parents’ home for two months from June to August while I underwent in-home IV treatment. We decided that it would be best for me to stay at my parents so that it would be easier for them to take care of me as well as my daughter since I was physically unable to take care of Annelise at the time.

My mom is a nurse by profession so that came in quite handy during the IV treatment. I felt quite safe at home knowing that my mom would know when the IV had gone south and would require a change. She administered Phenergan (anti-nausea medication) through the IV for me at night.

Because my nausea was so bad, I had a really hard time taking a shower (the motion of even standing up and washing my hair was enough to cause a puking episode). I also had no energy to take a shower regularly. So my mom took up the tedious chore of washing my hair once a week just so that I didn’t look like a complete barbarian. She endured my frustrated screams at her to hurry up because even the smell of shampoo would send me over the edge. She also faithfully administered glycerin suppositories when I was extremely constipated (gross, I know!). I don’t think anyone but a mom would be willing to do that!

One time I was taking a shower and I got extremely nauseous from the heat of the water and I vomited my entire lunch onto the tub. The shower drain started getting clogged…so I yelled for my mom to come help me. She scooped all the vomit out of the tub.

On top of all this, my mom (on her days off from work) took care of my daughter. It was quite a stressful time for all of us – it’s an understatement to say that my parents were drained after a long day of taking care of me as well as my active toddler!

All of these things were amazing for my mom to do but I think what I’m most thankful for is her simple, unconditional love. I had so much frustration and anger regarding my pregnancy – it inevitably would come out in emotional outbursts toward my mom. And yet she chose to stand by me despite my frequent, ugly temper tantrums…

A mother’s love knows no bounds, can lift you up in the darkest moments of life. A mother’s love is unique is its ways and can be the most persistent and constant of loves that we’ll ever experience. It is probably the most thankless job in the world but it can be a glorious gift for her children. 

Here I am at 28 weeks about to become a mom of two soon. I hope that I can, one day, show this kind of unwavering love to my little ones.