Christmas Baby? Noooo…. NEW YEAR’S BABY?? Nooo……..
We were due the 26th of December. But Anna was born 3 1/2 weeks—make that 3 weeks and 5 days—early. So all December we were waiting, and waiting, and … w a i t i n g . . .
A boy, on the 22nd!
—So said my dad, who was born on the 22nd himself. But nope, the baby did not come then. And then came Christmas Eve, and we imagined, maybe tonight, maybe it will truly be a Christmas Baby! What a miracle, I thought. And here’s Anna, looking all around here, and everywhere, in case you haven’t noticed, deep at the heart of the Christmas festivities, there’s a baby! Baby baby baby baby BABY BABY!!!
Nope, not on Christmas. (It was, however a perfect Christmas. Fresh snow started falling early in the morning, the tree shone gaily, grandparents showered Anna with gifts, I got warm pants…)
Well, that’s okay. I mean, I don’t want to have my birthday on Christmas. It is kinda magical, but you’ve got some tough competition there. And then the day after, it’s “the due date,” which we didn’t really pay too much attention to after Anna steered so far clear of her “due date”. But now, people who hadn’t had babies, who asked, “oh, when are you due?”, were flummoxed when Erika said, “last Wednesday.” As if, once the due date has passed, the baby goes bad in a couple of days like lunch meat.
A couple of days passed, and then Erika’s sister Jill came to visit. She had a window where she could plausibly come without her two girls, so she came to help Erika take care of the new baby. Anna was delighted with Jill—here was someone who clearly knew the day-to-day ins and outs of managing a full-time play kitchen—and Jill was excited to be here and perhaps help with the birth instead of just holding the new one. Her last night here was New Year’s Eve, and you just n e v e r k n o w . . .
A New Year’s Eve baby! Think of it. Think of the parties you must have for your birthday. The champagne, the toasts, the fireworks!!
—Or a New Year’s Day baby?
—or—?
Well, we still don’t have a baby in our arms; he, or she, is still in mama’s belly. But the signs are coming, there’s progress, and at the moment I’m having a difficult time thinking about work. I wanted to capture some of my thoughts before the baby came, and this seemed like a good place.
We’ve been saying “any day now” for several of them. Now I think we’re officially upgrading to “could be today” :)