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Just A Little Rant  

Posted by: Jenna

Over the weekend, Greenlee got sick for the second time in her life. She was throwing up every 15 minutes for 6 hours straight. It started around 7pm and ended around 1:30 in the morning. There was puke everywhere-- disgusting brown spots of vomit in our carpet that no matter how hard we scrubbed would not come out. At the same time both my husband and I, as well as Greenlee, were covered in vomit. We literally could not clean up as fast as she was puking it all out. It was sometime during one of the many baths we gave Greenlee that night and cleaning up those revolting brown spots that I thought, "what would we do if we had another little one to take care of during all of this?" I had no answer. The thought was almost unimaginable. As wonderful as another child would be, I know my limits, and I knew in that moment that I could not have another child anytime in the near future.

From the moment Greenlee was born almost a year ago, the biggest thing I've learned is that parenting is freakin' hard! I went through a stage for a while where I was so angry at all my friends who made it out to be easy peasy. They were the ones who told me to "just go for it" when I would talk about possibly having a child. After we had Greenlee, I told myself if I would have known how hard it was I would have waited at least 5 more years to have a kid. For me, having a baby was the most difficult transition I have ever made in my life. Besides the fact that our daughter was born with a congenital disease which involves monthly blood draws and taking pills for the rest of her life...there are a million other reasons why it was SOO hard. She cried for hours at a time for the first 2 months, I literally didn't sleep a full night for 8 solid months, didn't cook or take a daily shower for the first 3 months, she only napped 45 min at a time for the first 8 months, she got sick for 6 weeks with RSV at 3 months old (think puking, refusing to eat, up all night, snot gushing from nose 24/7, breathing treatments, wheezing, frightening horse cough, ear infection, antibiotics, diarrhea 9+times per day, blistering diaper rash, etc) breastfeeding didn't work out, and the list goes on. And, to think it could have been worse. What if she would have been born disabled or with an even worse disease? I can't even imagine....

I guess it's because of all of this that I get really frustrated with people who ask "so when is Greenlee going to get a sibling?" I'm like, "Are you serious? She's not even 1 yet!!!" It's people like this who have the mindset of: have as many kids as you can in as small a time frame possible. It seems like a cultural trend sometimes in the Christian circles. To me it's like saying "let's all go inflict the worst imaginable pain on each other possible, it'll hurt for a little while, but after it might possibly get manageable." YEAH RIGHT. Why would you do that to youself? To your marriage? I just don't understand it. Not everyone can handle having multiple children close in age (me obviously being one of them) and I don't like when people pressure other couples in that direction.

Honestly, I don't have a specific direction for this post. It was simply a rant. That's what blogging is for, right?

I will wrap this up by saying something positive because I know this post probably seems depressing. Despite all the hardships and sickness and lack of sleep-- I love my daughter to pieces and would never trade her for anything. She is definitely a blessing from the Lord. She has the sweetest little personality, tons of spirit, and a smile that just melts your heart. I'm just not ready to have any more blessings for a while, because like I said-- being a parent is freakin' hard!!! It's an enormous responsibility and requires your all-- every single day. There are no days off...it's a 24/7 gig. But at the end of each day, I am thankful God chose me to be Greenlee's mom and to bring her into the world. We truly love her with all of our hearts!

This entry was posted on 5:08 PM . You can leave a response and follow any responses to this entry through the Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom) .

3 comments

The Malko's  
September 16, 2011 at 3:20 PM

Hey Jenna! You are right!!! Being a parent is or sure the hardest thing I have EVER done in my life! And I was seriously clueless about how hard it was going to be! Anderson was no piece of cake early on either! And I seriously JUST had to make him start sleeping through the night last week (11.5 months old)! ANd he still does a lot of crying during the night! SO I have literally only slept all the way through the night less than 10 times since he has been born! Couples need to know how hard it is and that EVERY SINGLE THING in your life will change when that little one comes! I think it is too often sugar coated and made to seem easier than it is. But the truth be told no matter what someone tells you or how many books you read you are never fully prepared for parenthood!! They are for sure a blessing like you said and we love Anderson more than we ever knew we could love and do want more kids, BUT you are so right! Not everyone is cut out for back to back kids - me included too! So i feel your rant girl! Be encouraged! You are a great mommy and Greenlee is adorable! (It's amazing that they survive us sometimes haha!) Love ya girl! Hope we get to see your sweet family soon!

The Malko's  
September 16, 2011 at 3:21 PM

Hey Jenna! You are right!!! Being a parent is or sure the hardest thing I have EVER done in my life! And I was seriously clueless about how hard it was going to be! Anderson was no piece of cake early on either! And I seriously JUST had to make him start sleeping through the night last week (11.5 months old)! ANd he still does a lot of crying during the night! SO I have literally only slept all the way through the night less than 10 times since he has been born! Couples need to know how hard it is and that EVERY SINGLE THING in your life will change when that little one comes! I think it is too often sugar coated and made to seem easier than it is. But the truth be told no matter what someone tells you or how many books you read you are never fully prepared for parenthood!! They are for sure a blessing like you said and we love Anderson more than we ever knew we could love and do want more kids, BUT you are so right! Not everyone is cut out for back to back kids - me included too! So i feel your rant girl! Be encouraged! You are a great mommy and Greenlee is adorable! (It's amazing that they survive us sometimes haha!) Love ya girl! Hope we get to see your sweet family soon!

williamlovesalyssa  
September 17, 2011 at 11:28 AM

It's probably too that some kids are easier than others, like I would tell someone that being a mom is super easy! Isn't the different perspectives neat/funny?! I think ya'll are great mommas!!! keep up the good work. I'm sure my next one will be more difficult and I'll be calling ya'll for advice!

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