almost exactly three years ago, an important trip to Seattle coincided closely with the due date of a friend's son. this friend had invited me to attend her baby's birth, and I truly wanted to, but I knew that birth days are hard to predict. I went to Seattle for the weekend hopeful that I would not miss the big event, and indeed she went into labor as we boarded the plane to come home. I arrived in time to be part of the final twenty-four hours of labor and delivery, and at the end of it saw a sweet little boy come into the world.
a year and a half ago in January, Gavin and I were visiting Hawaii in what will probably turn out to be our last solo trip there. at the time, my best friend, who had relocated to our childhood home with her husband a few years before, was just about nine months pregnant. her due date was about a week after we had to leave to return to work and school, and we didn't have any other trips planned for that year (it turned out we took Carter there in late May, but we couldn't have predicted that then). I so wanted to meet her little baby before we left. I remember touching her belly and asking him to come out. the night before she went into labor we took her out for dinner at a Thai restaurant (yay spicy food!), and the next day while we were scuba diving we got the call. and so it was that before we left the islands we got to see the new addition to our extended family in his little hospital crib.
this Friday, Gavin's parents are leaving for a few weeks overseas. they are excited to meet their latest granddaughter. I have been talking to her over the past few days, asking her to come a few days early: "come out, little girl, and meet your grandparents!" at this point, unless we go into labor today, it's unlikely that they'll get to see her before their return. so please send positive thoughts--it can't hurt.
1 comment:
Good timing/bad timing stories (there's no point to these, really; I'm just sharing!):
When my cousin Anne was having her first baby (she was the first cousin in our generation to have a baby, and when I think back now, I'm horrified that she was only 24 at the time, a baby herself), she was due on a Sunday. She worked up until the Friday before her due date (taking public transportation every day), and her sister, who was working in LA that summer, came up for the weekend to see the new baby. And Monica was actually born on that Sunday, on her exact due date.
When my sister was having her second baby, she was due on December 16. Despite the fact that Mary's first baby had been born 10 days past her due date, and had to be induced, my mom went out and bought a bunch of "Baby's First Christmas 1996" stuff. TWO WEEKS after her due date, Mary went in to be induced again, but when they hooked her up to the monitor, she was in the early stages of labor already. So Roisin arrived on December 31, and didn't see her first Christmas until 1997.
So you never know, Gavin's parents might be back before Thistle arrives!
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