Speechless

It's no secret that I've been feeling miserable, and this last week ranks up there as one of the roughest weeks I remember for any pregnancy.

My Mom called a couple of times this past week and I didn't pick up her call because I was either sleeping or puking or crying. I think the "Mother Instinct" in her kicked into high-gear. She knew things probably weren't too good in our home if I wasn't even answering the phone. Enough was enough. She and my Dad worked out every detail - behind my back - and arrived on my doorstep yesterday evening.

There are not words to express the immediate relief that flooded me. I was in total disbelief when I opened the door and they were standing there... but at the same time it was the complete and perfect answer to so many prayers I prayed this last week. I was speechless. Actually, I was a sobbing mess. You know the kind of tears that aren't just quiet roll-down-your-cheeks kind of tears, but the kind of tears that involve shaking shoulders and loud sobs? Yeah, that was me.

My boys ran into frantic circles, jumping and laughing because Grandpa and Grandma were suddenly at our house to play! My husband just stood quietly in the background, a small smug smile, because he worked with my Mom to arrange the details. And, because he heard me break down earlier this week and cry, "I just want my Mom here! I want her to cook. I want her to clean. I want her to care for the boys. This is the part that stinks about living so far from family."
My parents left Michigan at 4:00 am, drove 75% of the way in a snowstorm, and arrived in North Carolina by dinner time. That's love. My Dad has to work next week, so he is here just for the weekend and will make the long drive back home alone on Sunday. That's love. My mom rearranged her work schedule for the week and bought a one-way ticket for next Saturday so she could stay the whole week to help. That's love.

Speechless. That's what I was. And that's what I still am.

I woke up at 8:00 this morning and realized I had slept in and that my boys were already being cared for. I pinched myself just to be sure it was real. And now, barely 10:00 this morning, and my parents have my boys running around the woods looking for rocks and acorns to put in their buckets.

Speechless. Totally speechless.