I Had It All Planned Out

This week was planned to have been a busy one, with a OB appt on Tuesday morning, the International Woman's Club Coffee at my house on Wednesday, and a mommy group playdate at my house on Friday afternoon. It still was busy, but not how I had planned....

Monday morning I had body aches that eventually turned into a stomach infection and a visit to the ER by early Tuesday morning. Honestly the whole ordeal was quite easy to get through and I give thanks to God for that!

When your hubby is an 1 1/2hrs away though what do you do in Sto Domingo when you need to get to the ER?

1. call a taxi

2. leave the kids with Ana

What not to forget when heading to the ER

1. crackers

2. socks

I had an OB appt scheduled for Tuesday morning, but realized that by 6am I didn't need to wait 3 more hours to see her. God truly perserved me for the 40 minute taxi ride and my doctora was waiting for me when I got there. Her immediate presence meant I didn't have to speak Spanish in order to tell the ER doctors what was wrong! Getting by with a second language you aren't fluent in is fine until you are in a medical situation.

Once I started receiving the IV solution and antibiotic I was doing better, but Scott had the wisdom to go ahead and come on in to be with me for the rest of the day. THIS WAS SUCH A BLESSING! He got to me about two hours after my arrival and began the checkout process while I took my second bag of solution.

What does an ER bill look like in Sto Domingo? (at least at the clinic I chose)

1. ER visit $40US

2. Antibiotics for 5 days $4US

3. Lab work $30US

The worst part of the visit - when you are in the ER that usually means you are around people in LOTS of pain. Screaming and loud vomiting can sure make you feel good about your situation!

We grabbed a freshly squeezed orange juice and banana from a street vendor outside the clinic (name for small hospitals here and they are everywhere) before we headed home. The rest of Tuesday I spent resting while my wonderful husband took care of the children. As long as Scotty is around I don't have to give any energy towards the kids if I can't or don't want to. Praise God that Scotty has such a relationship with our children that they don't need me when daddy is around.

Needless to say, I canceled the Wednesday coffee and God allowed for there to only be a small group come to the Friday playgroup. I was pretty much back to normal energy level by Wednesday, and I give credit all to God for this because He had something else for me to do Wednesday other than host a coffee.

On Tuesday afternoon I received a phone call from a missionary friend who was doing mission work out of town and hosting a team for the week. Her college daughter and friend are in town for the summer and Wednesday was their birthday but with the mission work she didn't have time to make the two cakes. God needed me to put all my energy for Wednesday into cake making. He knew that as a pregnant lady I couldn't prepare and host a coffee/brunch of 10 or more women and make 2 cakes. It was so awesome to get to see God's purpose for me in being sick.

Praise be to God for mercifully getting me through what could have been a very scary process living in a foreign country.