Hello All Ye Merry Ladies and Gents,
I wanted to share an update on Heidi and Whittle Ehlke.
After two weeks at the hospital, Heidi was actually discharged. She's been on strict bed rest at home with maybe 1 trip on the stairs a day.
She's been at home for a couple weeks now. Whittle has stayed put. The ultrasound technician even let it slip yesterday that at 33 weeks now we're pretty much in the clear. She's not the doctor so you've got to take that with a grain of salt. But HELL YESAH 33 WEEKS AND YOU'RE IN THE CLEAR!!!!
I don't know what to say beyond that... Wishing I was more eloquent just now.
I will say that it's generally not a good idea to start home renovation projects when you're a single dad. But my brilliance was magnified when Heidi was discharged from the hospital in the middle of said renovations. I fondly refer to the stage when there were no kitchen countertops, or sink, and wet paint on the walls, and dog, and children, and a wife, all in need, and so yes, yes this all happened at the same time. It's called Ground Zero. Perhaps it's good to take on a life like that at times. So you can say "that really sucked", or "those were the worst days of my life", or less dramatic statements to the same effect. But in the end it's a wise idea because when you're through. When the light at the end of the tunnel appeareth, you can say to a bedrested wife, "this is no problem" and, "life is very good", and even, dare I say it: "three kids will be a breeze".
So that's where we are at. Life is very good, three kids will be a breeze. We're not sure, but we anticipate Heidi going off bed rest in mid November and Whittle arriving shortly thereafter.
Thank you for all your prayers and good thoughts, I know I used every one of them. Heidi did too.
Love,
Jonathan
And I want to add to that.
Thank You.
We are so indebted to so many people that I am nearly ashamed. I've heard the saying "it takes a village to raise a child" but I never knew that sometimes it takes a village to birth a child. We never meant to impose on anyone, but are humbled by everyone's love and generosity during this time. It's been 9 weeks now. 9 weeks, isn't that crazy? I didn't think I could do it, and sometimes don't think I "did" it. It's during times of great pressure and stress that we learn the most about ourselves. I learned that I'm very mediocre at a lot of things I thought I was good at, and outright bad at others. The first thing I learned, it's much easier to offer help than it is to accept it. It's not even close. Thank you to every one who continued to shower us with their help even when we were acting weird about it. I'll tell you why we were acting weird. Because we felt weird. I learned my infinite patience is finite, that my even temperament is rocky. If you lived in my house these last 9 weeks you got the brunt of some temper of mine, some flash of impatience. In the end I fell short, and in the end my family loved me regardless. Thank you Lydia, thank you Evelyn, thank you Heidi, and even Barley. I hope and pray that I have grown from this, that I am a better man and father than I was 9 weeks ago.
And a special thanks to a few people who, without them, I'm not sure we'd be alive at this point.
Erica, Mary Lou and Ken, Mom, Jessica, Jan and Pal, the husbands/kids too who let us borrow their wives/moms, Uncle Rob
Thank you all so much.
Like the technician said, at 33 weeks now we are out of the clear. We're "over it" as Heidi said yesterday, we're even feeling a little bit reckless (you see Heidi on the porch of Lydia's video this evening). What a huge blessing to know that Whittle is officially ok at this point. Just 3 weeks more and we're off. Off to "just" being a family with a bunch of very young children and a crazy dog.
I'm guessing we'll need your help again soon, very soon.
Because I heard somewhere that it takes a village to raise a child.
At least we have a new kitchen to raise them in, right?
Enjoy the day.
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