How Tara Got Her Groove Back

Wow, do I feel better! It's true that I'm 8 months pregnant, can't take a deep breath, don't sleep more than 30 minutes at a time, take about 48 potty breaks per day, and I have definitely painted my own toenails for the last time for several weeks...but thanks be to the Lord, I finally have some of my energy back.

These past 2 weeks have been horrible. I have felt like I had a load of bricks tied to my ankles. It is so frustrating to have so many things that you want and need to do, but no strength to do them. Evidently, my main problem has been a severe iron deficiency. I found from my own research that there are 3 types of iron deficiencies, and mine could not be corrected with an iron pill alone. I am writing this, not because I enjoy complaining (I rarely share my maladies), but to prove, once again, the importance of not totally relying on doctors for your medical care.

Iron supplements make me sick, so it took several weeks to find something I could take. And I also discovered that I needed extra B-12 and folic acid to aid in the absorption, since the type of deficiency I suffered from comes from altered digestion during pregnancy. Had I settled for the doctors' final word, I would still be lying on the couch, helpless. Instead, this has been my plan for the past week: Supermom vitamins in the morning, Folic Acid at lunchtime, Emergen-C (1000 mg of Vit C in fizzy drink form, available from Wal-Mart) in the afternoon when I always need a "pick-me-up", Spirulina tablets along with supper, and prescription Repliva iron tablets at bedtime. After a week of this regimen, I feel like my real self again.

There was a time in my life, when for me to have been out of commission as I've been, that my house and family would have been turned completely upside down. However, with my fourth pregnancy, I saw a dire need to put my family on a functioning schedule. This week, again, proved how helpful that schedule has been to our lives. One of the best resources I've ever found for my schedule is Titus2.com , mainly the book "Managers of Their Homes". I'm not near as rigid as Mrs. Maxwell is with her schedule, but that book taught me so much about the value of multi-tasking, families working together, siblings helping each other, teaching younger children to entertain themselves, expecting more out of children, the folly of being a slave to a child's every whim, and children following tasks without being told. (Famous saying around here, "This chart is my voice.") We've been doing this since 2004, and we are not slave to it, and it changes every year as our family changes. We kind of look at it as Jesus said of man and the Sabbath, that the family was not made for the schedule, but the schedule for the family. Although I've not been able to even stand for more than a few minutes at a time, the laundry is still done (all except MY folding!), and we've not missed one single day of school lessons....all because my children are trained to follow the schedule. It has made the difference between a chaotic miserable house full of lazy, shiftless children and an over-worked, exhausted, resentful mother....and a functioning family who enjoys life. I thank the Lord for putting me on this path.

Sometimes we thank the Lord for our health, assuming that we are not taking our blessings for granted. But the Lord has shown me these past few days that each morning I get up and make out a "to do" list, I am taking it for granted that I will have the stamina and opportunity to complete that day. My prayer is like that of Moses:

"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." Psalm 90:12