Where Were You When...

One of my coworkers recently approached me and asked how I was feeling. I'm always touched when someone has enough sympathy to see a very pregnant woman and think to ask how she's handling it all. After all, it's not easy. There's a reason the scriptures state that "the days were ACCOMPLISHED that she should be delivered." I think that's got to be the most correct translation we have because it is truly an accomplishment. Time has suddenly slowed down for me and I can take life in about 3 hour increments. Just try to get up and get to work. Now try to make it to lunch. Now make it through lunch. If I've gotten that far without wanting to pass out from exhaustion I'm totally golden. Work is slow right now so I can pretty much leave at 4 or so without too much fanfare. After I get home I'm free to curl up in our soft bed and wait until I feel Brent kissing my cheek indicating he's home and he'll make me dinner. Then I'm free to go back to bed with the sure knowledge I made it through another day. I am woman! Hear me... well, snore :)

But I digress. I always answer these inquiries about my physical well-being honestly: Fine, thanks. A little tired today. Hungry. Hot. Good because I slept really well last night. Like Friday won't come fast enough. Annoyed because Trent smells like mustard. The interesting thing about this conversation is that he followed up his question with, "You know, you might consider bringing a towel to work just in case your water breaks." I was blown away. First of all, this co-worker has no children. Not to mention he's gay so it's highly unlikely he's been with a woman when she goes into labor. I told him from what I understand that usually only happens in 10-15% of women and even then it's often after contractions have begun. I tried to reassure him that for the most part there's a 5-7 hour window when everything gets in gear to when it gets more serious and I have to get to the hospital. He nodded politely and eventually went back to work. Just to make him feel better, I got out the fleece blanket my company gave to all associates last summer and laid it out on my chair.

This got me to thinking that I'm not the only one who's wondering when the "big" event will take place. Naturally I assumed I was the most vested in it, but I started to notice how certain questions keep coming up at work. Like the ones about when am I gonna start my maternity leave? Am I going to start working from home soon? Is today my last day? Am I going to leave work... THAT afternoon because I look a little haggard? It never occurred to me that others might be wondering if they're going to be the unfortunate witnesses of my girl's worldly debut. My joke of "Oh I'm going to work right up until I have this baby. In fact, I'm planning to just have her in a conference room. I figured I could call Tech Support for help." doesn't get much of a laugh these days.

Again, I just assumed this child's birth was only significant to me but I'm beginning to see it would be significant to whomever happens to be around. It would be an event you'd never forget, kind of like when Kennedy was shot, or Princess Diana died, or when 9-11 happened. Everyone knows where they were when these things happened because they were so monumental. Unfortunately I can't predict the timing of when I go into labor. I don't know if it will be long or short. I'm not sure if I can go naturally or if an emergency c-section will be in order. All I know is that like death and taxes, it WILL happen. BTW- did you all know Brent once worked at a mortuary? That absolutely cracks me up because as an accountant he really HAS covered the whole death and taxes thing. He's less amused than I on that point...