The Wait Is Over Once Again

Friday, September 13, 2013
7:00 P.M.


Rico hopped out this morning and injured his leg.
After a visit to the Vet, and a shot of pain meds, he has been in la-la land all day.

Yep it's Friday the Thirteenth

Rico's Friends Making Sure He Is OK
(And Yes That is a Doggie Stroller)

The Wait is Over

Jen called me at around 10:30 last Sunday morning to tell me she was in labor.  After I hung up the phone,  I  brushed past Ross, leaving my words indecipherably hanging in the dust cloud I had kicked up as I transformed into a whirlwind of activity.
"What?"  "What did you say?"  Ross was following closely behind me trying to catch a word here and there from the phrase bursts I was calling out over my shoulder.
Clearly he and I were not on the same page.  I impatiently couldn't understand why it was not obvious to him that since I had just gotten off the phone with my nine months pregnant daughter and was now hastily throwing clothes into an overnight bag, he wouldn't automatically be executing  plan A part 1.1
Plan A
    Part 1.1: Call Lucky's Bed and Bisquit to secure a cabin for Rico.
"You want me to walk Rico?"  He asked.
At that point I realized that he had no idea what was going on.
"Jen is in labor!"  "We have to go!"
I suddenly stopped what I was doing.  I reminded myself that this was Jen's third child.  And by the way, since her pregnancy had been normal and her first two deliveries were fairly quick and without incident, I shouldn't expect any difficulty with this one either.
But we were over an hour away and I am her mother and a worrier, therefore my rational pause in the midst of this panic mode was brief.
So, even though the plan, with parts A-G fell by the wayside, we quickly managed to gather ourselves together and surprisingly were able to get out of the house within 30 minutes.
The first stop was Lucky's.  When Ross called (as per Plan A, Part 1.1) he informed the staff that we were in a hurry and explained the reason why.  The check in person was sure we must be so excited and wanted to know if this was our first grandchild.
When I told her that it was in fact our sixth, she remarked that we must be old pro's by now.  While I paced back and forth in front of the desk, she proceeded to tell us the most bizarre and long story about her mother.  I wondered why she hadn't noticed the puzzled expression on my face.  For the life of me I couldn't figure out what relationship her story had to the impending birth of my sixth grandchild.
Which, I thought, I was probably going to miss because of her mother story.  We never did find out the end of her story because Ross politely cut her short and we made our escape.
While all of this was going on, my son-in-law was texting me, giving me updates.  First, they were on their way to the hospital with the kids.  Next, Emily was going to meet them there to take the kids to her house.  By the fourth text, they had arrived at the hospital and she was 9 cm dilated.
Ross missed the turn to get on the highway.  So we had to backtrack taking us past our house again.  I suddenly realized that we hadn't eaten, so I suggested we stop at the house and make sandwiches to eat on the way.  I guess you could say this was unplanned Plan B.
With sandwiches and mugs of tea and coffee in hand, we were finally, actually and really this time on our way.
We got to the hospital, made our way up the West wing elevator, and got there with just a minute to spare to say a quick hello to Jen and Derek before the nurse was announcing that it was time.
About forty-five minutes after we arrived, at around 3 p.m., Jackson (Jax) Joseph was born.  He weighed in at 8 pounds nine ounces and grew to be 20-1/2 inches.
He is the most beautiful fifth grandson in the world!
Later that evening my nine year old granddaughter was telling me how anxious she had been when they were on the way to the hospital.  When I asked her why she was so nervous, she said, "You all have been through this before, this is my first time."
Yes, I am a grandmother for the sixth time.  And, Bella, it's just as wonderful (and nerve-racking) as the first time.