With the due date on the horizon, our back up was mobilized to ensure that our little one was covered while the new little one was delivered. My mother in law, who has not had the opportunity to visit our tiny town yet, was able to get a chunk of time off to come help. The only thing to do after that was have the kid in that two week window. How hard could that be?
The day had come and there were some logistics involved. First off, we live 5 hours away from the closest “major” airport, so pick up is always a bit of a hike. My wife left in the morning so she could get there and do some big town shopping before her mom flew in and they could drive home. She was already a good chunk en route when my MIL got on her first plane. Meanwhile, I sat at home with my little girl. I only had two things to do: make cupcakes for the baby shower the next day and don’t go into labor. No sweat. I got this.
Out of curiosity, and because I hate being on the side lines, I took a glance at my MIL’s itinerary. She was already in the air for flight number one, but I saw that her connection was going to be tight. 30ish minutes tight. I wasn’t horribly concerned because the airline is usually really good about that, and knowing her route, the gates should have been fairly close. Still, I sent her a text just in case, hoping to hear all was well once she was squared away on plane number two.
The time had come and I got a call…not the one any of us wanted. There was a delay in getting off the plane and despite the fact that there was a chunk of people going from the first to the second, they didn’t hold it and my MIL found herself watching the plane still at the gate as the airline rep explained to the group that they couldn’t reopen the doors once they were closed. I was slightly confused, as were those on scene as I was receiving this call before the scheduled departure time, but rules are rules unfortunately and no amount of debate was going to get those doors back open…the next available flight was the following morning!
Here we had it. My MIL was stuck in an airport in one city. Although she was taken care of, hotel and meals wise, she was in a different city than my wife who was in different city from us! Things were going smoothly… To top it all off, the baby shower, more affectionately known as baby game day, was scheduled for the following afternoon and even if everything went perfect, they would still miss it by an hour with this new game plan! Nevermind the fact that my wife was supposed to bring me some stuff for the party…but hey, extra chips and goodies to eat our feelings about it after they do get home!
I called my wife and broke the news to her after booking a hotel for her that night. Bright side, she had a kid free night in the city! Woohoo! Yeah, it was as minimally as exciting as it sounds in that situation. After hitting Wal-Mart twice that day already because she forgot something, she got to go back a third time for overnight gear. It took me a while to realize that I needed to go shopping and I didn’t have a car to do it! Little kiddo and I bundled up and walked to the store. Much to the displeasure of my dog of course who stared out the window earnestly as we left her behind.
My little girl of course thought this was just the best adventure ever. She knew it was approaching bed time and here we were, walking to the store! It was a bath night and everything, so she knew she was going to get some extra awake time with mumum tonight. Unfortunately for me her enthusiasm also showed in her shopping habits. She had many “suggestions” of what we should get for the party. Most were single serve candies of some sort which she would point out and then negotiate its value to me. She explained that she could break them up and share little pieces with everyone. How about that mom? Yeah, it didn’t work. Luckily, my selected items were deemed acceptable and we made our way home. I figured that I was allowed to be in good enough mode at this point. After all, who was going to argue party standards with an incredibly pregnant person. My main focus was making sure the kick ass games I organized stayed on track and then everyone would be distracted anyway!
Then next day came, I got confirmation that the package was en route to meet my wife. Before lunch it was confirmed that my MIL made it without issue and they were now on the road. All I had to knock out was the party.
After a busy morning of final food prep, and a couple rounds of Tiger Woods golf on the Wii, it was show time. My daughter, being practically an adult at 4, was extremely helpful. Granted, the majority of the time it was the opposite of helpful, but in her mind she was Mumum’s number one assistant and just too darn cute to care that she was making things twice as hard. That’s how they get you! Luckily, I also had back up with a few of my buds that were coming and we made it work like pros. I’m so lucky to have such awesome peeps around.
As anticipated, the games were very engaging and competitive. So much so, that I realized a good hour and a bit in that I didn’t explain to everyone why my wife, a somewhat valuable portion of this whole thing, was not there. Just prior to the snack break, because intense competition requires proper nourishment, I shared the down low on the situation. It was shortly after that point that I realized how incredibly polite my friends are. Many had noticed, but nobody asked, thus me forgetting to explain. I think the best part was the various scenarios that were created to explain the absence prior to the legit explaination. One being that I’m hard enough to live with on a normal day, it’s not completely unreasonable to think I’m extra difficult at 9 months pregnant….maybe there was an argument and that cause the absence. Or even, for those that had never actually met my wife, the possibility that she does not actually exist and I just Photoshop this random person into my FB profile as a show. Afterall, what else could explain the absence of my significant other during a shower. All clever and most definitely amusing, but the legit version is more in line with how things roll luck wise for me.
In the end, my wife and her mom got in safe. The party was a blast, or at least I had fun…there was a lot of laughter which suggests I wasn’t the only one. And ultimately, I didn’t go into labor while my wife was gone. This one was huge, because I don’t think I could have dealt with all the questions I would have gotten from a 4 year old as my birthing partner. Pretty certain it would have resulted in me looking for her tablet cord while pushing or something so it all worked out.
Now, it was just another round of hurry up and wait! Thanks to all my buds that came and made it a great day.
Adventures of Offspring 