Let's Look - Hardest Things We Have Done

 

Linking up with Shay and Erika for Let's Look.  Today we are talking about hardest things we have ever done. 

The first thing that came to mind was our hike on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.  The hike itself wasn't that bad, and our group moved at a good pace. I think this is the day that I found to be the most challenging. It was foggy, damp, and we were at our highest altitude that day. I remember feeling very tired and cold when we got to camp but eventually got comfortable by changing all of my clothes and joining the group in the dining tent for popcorn and tea. 

I ran two half marathons before our kids were born, but it was two 10K races that I found more difficult because at the time I had very low iron (and didn't realize it) and I remember really struggling to finish. 

I have had two children via c-section and although those were difficult, and required some good time to recover, it was another abdominal surgery that was worse. I had fibroids for many years (refer to low iron above) and I had a myomectomy to remove them, I think in 2013 or 2014, and I had lost a lot of blood and it felt like it took me longer to recover from that than my c-sections. 

Learning to breastfeed. Moms who did that, you know what I'm talking about. Feeding every two hours, feeding E with a little cup because he wouldn't latch, pumping, cleaning everything, and starting all over again. He got jaundice and we had to go back to the hospital for a night and I remember feeling like a failure, but we didn't give up and eventually he was eating very well and was a healthy baby. I remember the Jamaican nurse at the breastfeeding clinic who reassured me that I was doing just fine. And all that work paid off because when Q was born we had no problems getting him fed. 

Working from home during COVID with two kids in online school. Again, if you were a parent with small kids at this time, you remember. There was just so much to balance day to day, and it went on for so long. Americans may not have had the same experience, but here in Ontario we were in and out of lockdown for about a year and half. We had so many rule changes in terms of being in person with people, school attendance, masks, vaccine "passports", travel, testing, and quarantine periods. As I'm thinking back, I still cannot believe all of the things, but yes, it fits into the category of hard things I've done.