The last two weeks, a freak pre-summer plague descended upon my homeroom. Within a couple of days, seven kids were out sick, most with fevers. A dozen more were coughing up a storm in my classroom. This is not a good scenario for a school the week before testing, and it is a nightmare for a pregnant woman.
Despite my efforts to stay far away from every coughing student and to constantly wash my hands, I inevitably managed to catch the nasty cold circulating my classroom. Thankfully, my cold was not accompanied by the fever that so many of my students have had, as well.
I will just come out and say it: Being pregnant while having a cold is terrible. It is about as much fun as standing in the middle of a blizzard while wearing soaking wet clothes.
For those of you unfamiliar with medication during pregnancy, there actually aren’t any medications considered to be 100% safe for pregnant women. Since no one wants to do clinical research on us (and I am certainly not encouraging them to), we are left to weigh the risks against the necessity of the medication. Cold medication isn’t necessary; it just makes life a bit more comfortable. Since I am not one to take any type of risk during pregnancy, here I am lying on the couch, tired, stuffy, and typing this blog while my body fights off this nasty cold virus. It isn’t exactly the Memorial Day weekend that I had in mind, but life goes on.
I’ll admit that I can be a bit of a complainer when I am sick. Throw in a few pregnancy symptoms on top of that, and my husband should be canonized. My attitude this week hasn’t exactly been award winning.
As I think about my negative attitude, I can’t help but also ask myself how Mary, Jesus’ mother, would have responded to sickness when she was pregnant. I am sure she probably would not have walked by the cold medicine isle in Wal-Mart frustrated and shaking her head. She probably would not have whined to Joseph about not sleeping well at night or how her legs ached. Mary was probably not a complainer, even though she also was likely under a lot of stress knowing that she was carrying the Son of God. Mary probably would haven chosen to joyfully accept any trial that was thrown her way.
I do think that being joyful is a choice. It is centered on the idea of trusting that God is in control of everything. Some weeks it is an easier choice than others. I certainly have many reasons to be joyful and need to choose that attitude. Our baby is healthy and kicking in my belly. It is the end of the school year. I have a great husband who has been taking care of me. The list goes on…
I think that sometimes it takes a little pain and discomfort for God to put things into perspective for us. It certainly has helped turn my focus from “me” and my discomfort, to “Him.” I have been so focused on myself that I failed to notice little things like how my husband has been cleaning up the dishes each day. Small acts of love should always point us back to God.
It is my goal this week, as I fight off this cold, to refocus. With the craziness of the end of the school year, I think my focus has been thwarted and is in need of reevaluation. Perhaps that is why I got sick. I also plan to continue to sit on the couch with a box of tissues while watching Netflix and thank God for my wonderful husband who is out mowing the lawn.
