living in community when life is hard

::  all the boys with mimi and papa ::

three months ago, i went to the midwife's office experiencing horribly intense itching all over.  found out it was an excess of bile in my body (gallbladder not functioning super fantastically, usually due to pregnancy's slowing of the digestive system).  medicated it and made a plan to watch the baby closely until delivery... no huge deal.

i didnt know at the time that it was only the beginning of what would be the longest, most dramatic three months of our life as parents (to date... lets hope it's over now!)

the following two weeks were spent nursing our family through what we eventually named "megabug: stomach version".  all three boys had it at once, and then steve, and finally me (landing us in labor and delivery for an evening).  it was by far one of the most persistent stomach viruses that we have ever had.  we even ended up sending the kids to my in-laws for a few days so that i could recover (after all, i was exhausted from caring for three kids and a husband for a week while 8 months pregnant).

when megabug finally passed, we spent three weeks finishing up school and preparing for jonah's arrival ( this included reflooring half of the house ourselves).  a week before his due date, jonah was born.  on that same day, gabe came down with what we eventually named "megabug: respiratory version".  by far, one of the worst respiratory viruses we have ever had (although i would say it was not quite as bad as the year gabe, ezra and i got rsv). gabe, ezra, titus and steve all fought the virus over the course of the two weeks following our return home from the hospital (shout out to my mom and both steve's parents who all eventually caught it as well).  then, jonah caught it.  and i thought we were on our way to a repeat of ezra's first new year's.  jonah ended up on breathing treatments and we were taking his temperature during every feeding to make sure we didn't need to head to wolfson's, but by friday it seemed like we had dodged a bullet.

that night, i woke up with intense upper quadrant pain.  steve, jonah and i headed to the emergency room where they ran tests (ultrasound, ct scan, loads of blood work, x-rays... i got it all).  pancreatitis... caused by gallstones.  we ended up sending the big boys to my in-laws (again) while i spent six days in the hospital, eventually having my gallbladder removed.  throughout all that, there was, of course, a newborn to care for and nurse (although, unfortunately, some of the tests that they ran made that difficult).

since then (its been three-ish weeks) we made only one more trip to the ER (pain and tests run... no big deal... all looks fine).

please allow me to recap:
:: two intense viruses (over the course of four weeks)
:: the birth of a child
:: two weeks separated from my children by illness (so thankful for family that lives close!)
:: four visits to the hospital
:: nine days of hospital stay
:: approximately 700 needles (at least that is how many it felt like)
:: one organ removed
:: six prescriptions and about a dozen doctor and midwife and other various physicians visits (not exaggerating here)

seriously, though... God has been so good to us.  we have the most incredible community.  they have surrounded us with support and meals and childcare and love.  it has been overwhelming but there has been so much blessing revealed in it all.