So, I’ve been sick for a few months. Not, like, sickness sick. I’m going to be fine. I mean “morning sickness,” but the kind that is with me every second of the day. Most days (now that I’m 20 weeks) I only throw up once, but for several weeks I was throwing up five to six times a day. Regular life stalled out. Survival Mode swooped in.
I stay home with my son. I teach online. I run a business.
How did we keep going? Here are my best tips:
1. I set my business up to run without me.
My husband knows how to do much of the work needed. I pushed off launches I was excited about. I kept to the bare minimum.
2. I loved my son while also explaining that I couldn’t dance, run, or play with him.
I needed to rest and I would happily read him a book, or color with him, or play Go Fish from my permanent spot on the couch.
3. I asked for help.
This does not come naturally to me at all! I asked my mom to play with my son at the library while I sat in a quiet corner and tried to catch up. Instead of attending my women’s group, I asked the host if I could drop my son off and desperately try to finish overdue work. And, even though these people did not know how sick I was, they happily helped! Honestly, more than those precious hours of work, knowing that people around me cared enough to help was a huge boost to my sanity.
4. I tried my best to offer up my suffering for women with hyperemesis gravidarum and for women struggling to conceive.
I am not good at this, but I did my best. And redemptive suffering is much easier to handle than…regular suffering.
What are your best tips for survival mode?
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