Morning Sick In Seattle

That's right. Morning sickness. Oh, not me. Mercy. No....it's our daughter, Staci. Let me start this narrative a few weeks ago. Staci's husband is a pilot in the Air Force flying the C-17. He was deployed for a few months and since that left Staci at home with two boys (Daniel is three, John is a year and a half), we thought she might need some help. We decided to fly out for a few days.

She did, indeed, need help. Daniel is filled with "why" questions and little John is at the climbing stage. He climbs on everything. We came down the stairs one day to find he had climbed on to the bar stools and then on to the counter top. He greeted us with a huge smile as if to say, "look what I've done."

What a joy to take those two little guys to McDonald's in the morning and watch them crawl on the equipment in the play room. They love chocolate milk as much as the other two grandsons. They would run and play and then hurry to the table for a quick pull on the straw for energy.

While there I kept teasing Staci about the fact that she and Josh have planned to have a third child, and soon. "Staci, what are you thinking? These two are more than a normal human being can keep up with." We laughed together and the teasing continued all week.

As the week wore on I realized how weary she was and I asked Jane if she would consider staying another week. She was willing. I flew home.

Staci continued to show signs of fatigue. Finally she confessed to her mother that she was pregnant.

Life has been a blur since then and tonight Jane is packing for another trip to Seattle to help a daughter who is seriously ill with morning sickness that's lasting all day and trying to keep up with two busy boys.

Who knows, she may even come home with Jane and give grandpa the opportunity to spend an afternoon with all four grandsons fishing in the backyard.