Ain't No Lie. Bye Bye Bye.

I know many of you are wondering about the current state of my health. That statement is somewhat sarcastic, but there have been many of you who have asked, so I wanted to keep you sweet little dears in the loop...
Today I met with the surgeon for my pre-op appointment. He did some last minute question answering, checked everything out, then sent me on my way with a surgery date set for next Tuesday morning bright and early. By bright and early I actually mean dark and while everyone else is still sleeping. Ha!
I'll be having a partial hysterectomy(they'll leave my sweet little ovaries) as well as several ligament repairs. If all goes well I should be able to come home by late that afternoon. The recovery time is about the same as having a baby. He told me today I'll probably be up and around pretty quickly, but shouldn't return to everyday regular life for about 6 weeks.
Many have asked how I'm feeling about all of this. The answer is numb. It doesn't really seem true yet. I'm sure when I wake up and there are parts of me missing it'll start to feel real, but right now I'm still in shock that it's happening. Like, for real, happening.
I'm mostly worried about how my life will look for the next few weeks. My right-hand-lady, Aunt Steph, is currently living out of town working on an opera. She's ultra mega talented, and for some reason wants to be successful at something OTHER than being the worlds greatest aunt! We are so excited for HER, but that means she'll not be able to help at all with the kids while she's away. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but we have six kids. That makes finding a sitter we can afford that actually WANTS to watch all six of them together(which is how we like to keep them) a pretty big task. At this point I have no way of knowing what I'll need help with. Because Manly is basically self employed he only gets paid when he works. That means there's no sick leave/pay. So, we are on the hunt for all the help we can get. If you'd like, you can pray that this will all work out great for us. That our children would be taken care of, and that I'd be able to rest in the thought of them not needing me while I heal.
I'm also mulling over the fact that this is, indeed, the end of my childbearing days. Oh, believe me, I know that most of you are rolling your eyes at the thought of this being a tough thing for me while my house is running wild with six children. Bottom line, it IS. I know our baby days were over when Manly had his surgery a while back, but now they are REALLY over. And that's fine. It's just tough.
My heart is so thankful that God allowed my body to hold out and carry all of the kids. I'm so thankful that He prompted Manly to make the decision for Eli to be our last baby. I KNOW that He(The Lord) knew what needed to happen. I KNOW that this is in His plan. You have NO idea how grateful I am that our family felt completed when our little red caboose joined our family. My heart has not yearned for another baby. I know that some day, in years to come, I may feel a sadness about no more babies, but I'm thankful that our home and our hearts are filled with the joy our six kids bring us each day.
So, it's with hope for good health in the very near future that I bid adieu to my poor overworked uterus. It's been good to me all these(ahem) 33 years, but I'll not be needing it anymore.