Your body doesn't just "bounce back" after pregnancy because it was never meant to go back to exactly what it was.
During pregnancy and breastfeeding, your small intestine actually grows longer and increases its surface area. Your body is trying to absorb more nutrients. Some of these changes persist even after you stop breastfeeding.
The intelligence of the female body never ceases to amaze me.
In hospital wards, we doctors see the truth about love.
In one bed:
A wife is vomiting / a husband has melena…
and their partner is there, rubbing their back, cleaning them, not leaving their side.
In the next bed:
A woman is crying in pain… and her husband is least bothered /
A man lies helpless after a stroke… and his wife won’t even do the bare minimum of turning him to prevent bedsores.
Illness doesn’t just test the body.
It exposes people.
Choose your partner carefully.
Truly by the grace of God, I was able to walk through those doors… something I couldn’t do for 4 months. Not as a patient receiving care, but as a clinician providing care.
6 months ago I walked into an doctor’s office and my life has forever been changed.
Today I saw that same doctor for the in person for the first time since that visit and the first she said to me was “can I give you a hug?”.
Every once in a while I return to this evergreen quote from John Piper:
"Occasionally, weep deeply over the life that you hoped would be. Grieve the losses. Feel the pain. Then wash your face, trust God, and embrace the life that he’s given you."
Some questions truly cut to the heart -
After 3 months of appointments, imaging, ER trips, consults, etc… someone asked “do you wish you had a visible illness that could easily be seen vs it being invisible?”
"I'm just flesh and bone, but more importantly, I'm a soul, and that soul is accountable to one being."
"I've had an unbelievably blessed life... So praise God. I've been all across the world. I've met with world leaders."
"I've flown Air Force One, got to know a president. I have an amazing family, the podcast Turning Point USA... And so you experienced that, and you're like, 'What actually matters?'"
"What matters is your relationship with the divine, your relationship with your family, your kids, and maybe a close collection of friends, and your relationship with the truth."
So much wisdom and taken way too soon. Charlie Kirk will never be forgotten.