Of Shaving Nics & Migraine Headaches...

It has been a rather crazy week here, one of those weeks that starts out great...spring is here, flowers & trees are blooming, the sun is shining, birds are singing, people are walking with a bounce in their steps & burst into spontaneous choruses of "The hills are alive with the sound of muuuuusic..." Okay, well maybe not all that, but the week did start out fairly normal...Jeff had been sick over the weekend & we didn't go to church at all on Sunday. (We usually attend morning & evening, so to miss both is rather odd for us.) Thankfully, he was starting to feel better by Monday, while I was developing a bit of a head cold or seasonal allergies (did I mention that the trees are blooming...) By Tuesday, and after two days on antibiotics, Jeff was feeling a lot better and I was feeling pretty much the same, not worse, so I was glad. Tuesdays are a fun, but busy day for me with my Moms Bible Study in the morning & then school pick-ups at 3 different times in the afternoon. I love the Bible study & fellowship with other women & this week was a luncheon week which is an added treat...to sit & eat lunch with my friends while the kids are still in child-care...uninterrupted eating, homemade goodies, it is divine! 
After the luncheon, I picked up Drew from the nursery & Darcy from her preschool class & we went out to the car to wait for Sophie (her class ends later & a dear friend brings her down for me.) It was so pretty out, that I rolled down the windows of the car while we were waiting...did I mention that the trees are blooming...it is a glorious sight to see the blush blossoms of the cherry trees & the bountiful cotton ball white blossoms on the Bradford Pear trees...but after about 2 minutes with the windows down, my head felt 3 sizes too small & I could feel a headache coming on...so I quickly rolled the windows up to keep all that nice fresh air OUT! I am generally not greatly affected by seasonal allergies, but this must be my year...
Anyway, the rest of the day proceeded as normal...picked-up the remaining 2 kids, came home & kids were in & out of the house playing in the sunshine & I was in & out behind them while doing house-work & starting dinner. Something surely has gotten into me, I don't know if it is the happiness of being in our new home or what, but I have been cooking a lot this week & Tuesday night I made a yummy meat loaf, green beans, and  home-made mac & cheese! The kids gobbled it up! (Doesn't that make it all worth it, when the kids actually EAT the food you have worked hard to prepare!) Now it was while I was cooking dinner that I noticed my ankle was throbbing...hmmm. Okay, here is where things start to go a little hay-wire...so I nicked myself shaving on Saturday night, haven't done that in ages & it bled like crazy! If CSI were to shine their black light in our bathroom, it would be a scary sight! But I applied pressure & put on a band-aid & all was well...it was just a little nick. On Monday I wasn't wearing a band-aid & Darcy noticed Mommy's "boo-boo"...if your kids are like my kids, you know what she IMMEDIATELY did, she RAN to get me a band-aid! And not just any band-aid, but one of her special Tinkerbell tattoo band-aids! Which by the way if you have never used the Tattoo band-aids, they really are fantastic at staying on, even in water...perhaps they work too well...fast forward to Tuesday evening when my leg is throbbing...I look down to discover that my shaving nic has caused my whole ankle to swell & it is very itchy, BUT my Tinkerbell band-aid is still firmly attached! I took off the band-aid & it was all ooze...I decided the wound could probably use a bit of air. Long story (somewhat) short(er)... after dishes & getting kids to bed & getting lunches packed & snacks ready I was beginning to limp! The "little nick" was still itchy & swollen. Jeff said I needed to elevate it for a while because being on my feet had caused all of the blood to pool there, so I took my laptop & got in bed with my foot up...I think I was in bed by 10 or 10:30...that is CRAZY for me! I got up an hour or so later thinking it would be feeling better & I almost fell down! The pain was worse & I had to stand on one foot to brush my teeth! I was fearing that I would not be able to walk on Wednesday! Thankfully, a good night's rest & fresh-air for the wound helped immensely! When I woke up most of the swelling was gone & the pain was much better. However, I did wake up with a little headache. So my plan was to take Sophie to school, come home & feed Drew & Darcy, put them down for a nap & take a little nap myself. A good plan & it was all going SO well...the kids actually cooperated & went down for naps after breakfast...but by that time my headache was more than "little"...I still thought that a couple hours of quiet rest would help...unfortunately, somehow as I rested the headache grew worse & became a full-fledged migraine. Darcy woke up at Noon & crawled in bed with me. Drew, God bless my baby, slept until 1:00 & then Darcy went in to entertain him! I tried to get up at 1:10 to go get Sophie from school, but when I stood up it was like that screeching noise from Psycho in my head. Amazingly, Jeff didn't have an appointment, so he was able to pick Sophie up from school & come home for a few hours. It worked out well since we had a few workers coming to finish some punch-list items, so he could let them in & handle all that. An hour later, I was still was NO better, I  actually worse & feeling nauseous from the pain. So Jeff called in the cavalry! His wonderful sister, Kelly, & her 3 girls came by on their way home from school to watch our kids so Jeff could go back to work. They came from 3 to 6, and I never even saw them, but my kids were cared for & loved & fed & had a great time! 
It was a surreal experience for me, I laid there in bed shifting from one side to the other, trying to find a comfortable position that was not to be found. I was tired, but could only sleep in fits & spurts. Conversations filtered in from down the hallway & from outside, workers talking about the leaky toilet, the hummmm of the bathroom fans on & off & on & off & on & off (this is something they were fixing), "Do you have any children?" "Naw, never was the right time." " Oh, do you know that guy in Indian Trail...." 
When I wasn't sleeping I tried to pray, for my family, for our business, for a friend whose marriage is teetering, for a friend whose toddler was sick, for friends who are expecting, for a friend who is dealing with tough family issues...and I would drift in & out of sleep & shift & turn-over & listen to grilled cheese being made & Darcy crying because she bit her tongue & then listen to the quiet as all the kids went outside to play after dinner...and then I would hear, "Jack!" "Molly!" "Sophie!" "Come find me!" "Where are you?!" 
And no one came in my room for 3 hours, and still the headache did not relent. And Jeff came home to take the kids to Awana. I took some Ibuprofen, ate a few Ritz crackers and still the migraine persisted...
Finally, after everyone was in bed, the house was quiet again & dark, and I didn't feel nauseous any more. My head was still hurting, but not quite as bad. I was in bed at 9:30 & couldn't sleep...I was thinking that I had spent nearly all of the past 24 hours in that bed. I got up around 10 and went to the kitchen. I put some things away & got back-packs ready for school. I sat down at the computer for a few minutes to catch up on what had happened in my facebook world that day. I read a few blogs. And I went back to bed. Ready for a new day. Darcy was up two or three times in the night screaming & crying that her ear hurt. (Took her in this morning & sure enough she has an ear infection!) But I am thankful that God's mercies are new every morning, I woke up today with just a mild headache...more like my head hurt from aching so bad yesterday. But as the day went on, it faded completely, praise be to God! And I praise Him that I have such wonderful family & friends who helped us out on such short notice in a time of need!

       Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, 

       for his compassions never fail.

    They are new every morning; 

       great is your faithfulness.

    I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; 

       therefore I will wait for him."

Lamentations 3:22-24