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For Better Or Worse, In Sickness and In Health

On December 5, 2022 by

It has been a long time since I posted anything here on the blog or on Iveyshire’s social media pages! I never intended to take a three month break, but life has been an absolute roller coaster for our family since September. Updating the blog didn’t really have a place in survival mode. The main focus has instead been on our family and marriage in the midst of the chaos.

Our Growing Homestead

To kick things off, at the end of August we found out we’re expecting baby #4! As excited as we were, it was also a bit daunting. All of my pregnancies have been difficult, as I’ve dealt with Hyperemesis Gravidarum every time. This pregnancy has turned out to be the most challenging yet, with the nausea and vomiting hitting hard and fast right at five weeks.

Local friends pitched in right away to help us out, since Calvin’s job kept him away from home so much. While I spent most of my days in bed- totally miserable, throwing up, and losing weight- our friends were taking care of the kids, feeding the animals, doing laundry, bringing us meals, and more. It was so amazing how much support we had from everyone around us.

I Can’t Make This Stuff Up

Then, just when we thought we’d reached somewhat of a plateau in how bad my condition would get, we hit another bump in the road. Or should I say, stump?

We had a few friends over for a bonfire one Friday night. It was the loveliest October evening you could possibly imagine. One minute we were enjoying peak fall foliage, warm weather, a huge crackling fire, and good company. The next thing you know, our pasture was filled with emergency vehicles and police cars.

Calvin had hit a stump while riding the four wheeler, causing him to fall off to the side. It wasn’t really a spectacular event, just a random, freak accident. But he managed to break his leg in four places nonetheless.

We spent the rest of that weekend at the hospital, where he had surgery and got his leg put back together. Yet again, friends stepped in and took care of our kids and the homestead for the entire weekend so that I could stay with Calvin.

While Calvin was in the hospital, I told him I’d had about enough of the “worse/poorer/sickness” part of marriage, and was ready for some “better/richer/health”.

In the Thick of It

That first week home after surgery was probably one of the most trying and intense weeks yet in our marriage. Calvin was, of course, in a ton of pain, and getting used to walking with crutches. I reached my absolute worst point in this pregnancy- keeping nothing down and hitting my lowest weight. I ended up spending a night at Labor & Delivery getting IV fluids and meds. (Not the first time, and certainly not the last.)

The support continued to pour in, in the form of physical help, get well cards, and lots of phone calls, texts, and visits- including visits from family back in New York.

Where We Are Now

Seven weeks have already gone by at this point, and Calvin has been steadily improving and healing well. He even got cleared to head back to work this week. My doctor has been working with me to try to get me on a good medication regimen to keep me functional.

It’s going to be a big adjustment having Calvin working again. The last couple months certainly haven’t been a vacation by any means, but it has been nice having our whole family home every day. Having coffee in the morning, eating home-cooked meals, and praying together as a family have all been little highlights of happiness amid all of the stress, nausea, pain, and frustration.

We are completely humbled by how supportive all of our friends and family have been. I’ve been mailing out thank-you notes when I can. But even so, I feel like there really aren’t words to express how much we appreciate every single text, visit, meal, and offer of help that has been presented to us over the last three months. If you’re a friend who has blessed us and hasn’t received a thank-you card, please know that it’s only because of the state of things at home right now. We pray daily that God will bless everyone who has shown our family love and support.

So, here’s to getting back on our feet (figuratively and literally!), and moving forward with our homestead and our lives.

Hopefully you’ll be hearing more from the blog soon- because even though things have been all out of sorts, we’ve still been making plans and dreaming big. That’s just what we do here at Iveyshire.

Remember you can also follow our homesteading journey on Instagram!

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