Sunday, August 11, 2013

The 13th of July (A Birth Story)

We found out we were expecting for the third time in November of 2012.

We had been being "open to life" for quite a while & I was starting to get that feeling of grief that comes with greeting a familiar Aunt every month. Why weren't we conceiving? Was something wrong? We became pregnant with Avalene just 10 months after having Gwen, and the fact that Avalene was now 2 years old (in October) and we still weren't pregnant made me accept that if we only had our two rambunctious girls, I'd be okay. That did not stop me from desperately wanting another baby and fighting tears when I'd stare at a negative pregnancy test.

Then, it happened! Just weeks before my mom, the girls & I were to venture off to Disneyland, I found out my prayers were answered & I'd be bringing another babe on the Disney trip with us (in utero)! Obviously, we were thrilled. And of course, I'd totally forgotten how grumpy & miserable I am while gestating. Oh well, it was the early weeks, so I still felt great & the joy was all I saw.

Fast forward to spring. Ben was in an aerospace electronics program & nearly never home between school & work. When a job in his most desired field came up-we fantasized about him getting the job and what it would mean for our growing fam (hint: amazing things!). For the first time in our 5+ years of marriage, we saw an opportunity for us to finally settle.  Ben applied in May & was moved on to the aptitude portion of testing along with nearly 600 other applicants. Did I mention there are 4 positions? Well, there are. He was moved on again to the third phase along with only 75 other applicants. Wow!! Ben scored higher than 500 other people on the aptitude test & would get to take the physical strength test. Hooray! And here is where the story gets interesting...

Our baby boy's due date was July 15. As the job testing & so on took weeks, so when we found out Ben was moved on to the strength test it was late June. And the testing date? July 13th. A mere two days before our impending & much anticipated (by me at least!) due date. Did I mention the test was 3 hours away? Cue internal never-ending running track of worst case scenarios by me.

Both Gwen & Avie were born 4 & 3 days past their respective due dates. So really, I didn't have much to worry about it right? What were the chances of me going into labor while Ben was away for 8+ hours on July13?

Just guess



2 comments:

  1. Hey, don't stop now! Don't you know people like really, really, really long blog posts?

    My husband spends most of his day on the road in LA, and during rush hour can be hours away from home. And I've had a baby in an hour and 45 minutes start to finish. So, pretty nerve-wracking! But he hasn't missed one yet!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, what a cliffhanger! :) Can't wait to read the rest!!

    ReplyDelete

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