If the Phone Doesn't Ring, That's Me

Since January 2, when Jen went back home to Fort Collins, I have been on call to be the designated babysitter for Maggie’s 3-year-old Austin when she went into labor and she and Mark had to go to the hospital. She wanted to free up all of the grandparents, aunts, and uncles to be able to be at the hospital for the birth. I am far enough down the food chain to not go to the hospital, yet high enough up the food chain to be trusted with their child.

I have been very responsible. I have taken my cell phone everywhere with me, except church. Cell phones ringing during Mass make the priests understandably cranky. Everywhere I went, my phone was tucked into my purse. About every six minutes or so I would pull it out and look at it to make sure I hadn’t missed a phone call. I placed it four inches from my head at night when I slept. The first thing I would do each morning was look to make sure I hadn’t missed a ringing telephone that was inches from my ear. I felt like the president of the United States with his black suitcase, aka “the football.” I had my own “football.” Maybe more like those little rubber ones you get in the 50 cent machines with the claws that the kids beg you to let them try but they never get anything good. Still….

As the days ticked by and we got closer and closer to her January 13 due date, my sense of responsibility grew stronger. Each night, I KNEW this was the one. I would get the call that very night. But I would wake up each morning, check my telephone only to see that there were no messages, no missed calls, and, yes, the phone was fully charged.

January 13 came and went. So did January 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22,23, and 24. No baby. Well, there was definitely a baby, but that baby simply didn’t want to be born. Finally

Maggie’s doctor conceded that perhaps Maggie had a point that being unable to get out of bed or even out of a chair was perhaps a sign that tougher measures were necessary, and scheduled her for a C-Section, happening right now as I post this blog. God is good.

And now I can’t find my phone…..

Have a great weekend. When next I write, Maggie will be able to see her feet.