Then we waited.
And waited.
After staying up too late and waking my husband numerous times to check his phone for a message and several calls to family to find out if they knew anything, we finally heard from Tim around 9:00am this morning.
It reminded me of the agony that mother went through when I was in labor with our first child, Ethan. Ethan was due on June 6th or 7th (I don't remember now!), but on April 24th, my water broke and contractions started and nothing would stop it. Nathan and I had told our parents to pray for us. Mom knew that we had been transferred to Abbott, but really didn't have many details other than that. She called later that evening to get an update. It just so happened, that was the very time, I was taken to the delivery room so I told the nurse to tell her we would call her back.
The message somehow got confused and Mom thought that they said that I had just had the baby. She waited for a call back. Meanwhile, it took me a good 2 hours of pushing to get Ethan out. She waited for 2 hours thinking that I had the baby, and wondering why I wasn't calling. Since I was over 6 weeks from my due date, she was very worried. Mom had delivered me 6 weeks early and 2 years before that, my brother came over 10 weeks early. So, you can imagine the scenarios she was playing out in her head. I had no idea.
I wish I had known at the time how important it was to my mom to actually be there. Not that she wanted or needed to be in the room. She just wanted to be at the hospital. I felt bad when she relayed her thoughts to me later.
17 months later, Mom was at my house with me when I went into labor with Audrey. We had gone for a walk and had lunch. I took a short nap. I was still lying down thinking about getting up , when I felt my abdomen jolt. I was pretty sure my water had broke. I called my mom over and told her I was going to get up and make sure. As soon as I sat up, it was obvious. She went into action gathering bags and waking Ethan and buckling him in the van and drove me to the hospital. On the way there she timed my contractions. 1 minute apart... less than a minute apart... "Mom, if you don't slow down gently at this next intersection, the car may stop, but the baby will keep coming". She dropped me off at the front door and waited with Ethan in the lobby to hand him off to my dad when he arrived. By the time she came up to the floor where I was, she could hear Audrey's cries. The nurses assured her she could go in and after Audrey had some bonding time with Nathan and I, Mom got to hold her.
I know it doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but when my mom delivered my brother 10 weeks early and then me 6 weeks early, she had to wait to have that physical bonding time. They took us away very quickly. My brother was actually flown to another hospital. So, to have the experience of holding her brand new granddaughter less than an hour later, was a tremendous blessing. Here's a picture of Mom and I looking at Audrey in awe while the nurse finished cleaning her up.
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