G-baby Is A Few Hours Away
I’m sitting on the deck at my daughter and son-in-law’s house. Claire is bathed and in bed. Her mother is in the hospital in labor.
We weren’t expecting g-baby #2 without induction, but this kid is already a sneaky enigma. He or she decided to start coming out around 10:45 this morning, despite Cassie’s doctor’s insistence that the baby wouldn’t come out on its own within a week.
I hope we have a birth by the time you’re reading this, but beforehand, I wanted to write about how this day has been a walk….no, SPRINT….down memory lane.
I was supposed to be in Pittsburgh for the day. A “one more day with just the girls” before the new baby. But when I got here, Carlene told me she was timing Cassie’s contractions and that they were coming 7-10 minutes apart. I had with me only the clothes on my back, my BlackBerry, and a Tupperware of soup. I was definitely not Grammy Ready.
Enter Grandpa Larry.
We have two cars – a newer model Subaru something or other and a ’95 Jeep Cherokee (my favorite vehicle ever). The Jeep isn’t allowed out of Clarion anymore since a hole appeared in the catalytic converter. However, in an emergency, such as the birth of a grandchild, we would allow it out of the county. Of course today it decided to have a sticky throttle and something wrong with its transmission. Thank god Larry knew of the one rental car place in Clarion and called to reserve a car. We’re now the proud renters of a shiny black Cobalt for the weekend. He packed my bag, my computer, my camera, face lotion, and toothpaste and brought it to P’burgh.
He was only here for an hour, but I really appreciated that hour. We took Claire for a little walk, but afterwards while she played in her sandbox, Larry watched her so I could get her dinner ready. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do that alone. It’s been 25 years since I was a pregnant 21-year-old mother of a 20-month old and about to give birth. Tonight I have renewed empathy for the long-ago me, and a new respect for my daughter, who will soon follow in my footsteps and be mothering two children in diapers.
I made Claire a chicken breast with a little olive oil and tarragon, green beans, black beans and for dessert, a fruit pop. In between cooking for and feeding her, I roasted myself some mushrooms and steamed an artichoke. I ate the mushrooms with Claire sitting on my lap and coloring, and I ate the artichoke, cold, after she had a bath and went to bed. I’m finally sitting down and eating a bowl of soup. I’m too excited to eat, too wired to sleep. Grandbaby will be here soon.
The love I have for Claire is enormous. I’m sure many of you can relate with your own grandkids/kids. I know I’ll love this new baby, too, but it’s still not real. I’ll let you know tomorrow how it all turns out. I just needed to get this part out, some photos out there, to document this moment. Claire and I have a big day tomorrow. She meets her new sister or brother and I my new grandbaby. We also have to buy sandbox sand and play in the pool and buy a few groceries. I’ll be in no mood to eat again tomorrow, I’m sure. Heck, I’ll probably forget! That doesn’t happen often, my friends. Not often at all. 
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