An-ti-ci-pa-tion by Diane Burton

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NwP3wes4M8

Did you hum the Carly Simon song as you read the blog title? Or maybe you thought of the ketchup commercial using that song. Either way, we’re always anticipating something, aren’t we? An event, like the book signing I did yesterday. Or a response from your editor or agent. A tax refund. Winning the lottery.

We anticipate the arrival of a new movie or book, especially the next book in a favorite series. A member of the book group I belong to asks me at each meeting when the next Alex O’Hara book is coming out. Like I can pump out a book every couple of months. Right.

But the event my family has been anticipating for months is the birth of the twins. None of us expected their arrival to come on/near the due date, November 22. We didn’t even expect it on November 8^th, the scheduled C-section date. I’ve been anticipating their arrival for the past week. Our daughter-in-law has been very uncomfortable. She’s gotten so big, her skin was stretched tighter than a balloon ready to pop. When I got home from the book event Saturday evening, she apologized for not coming (I didn’t expect her to) because she’d been having contractions on and off for two days. I agreed with our son that she should just rest. We offered to come over and stay with her until Son got home from work. She declined, saying the contractions weren’t regular.

The boys had other ideas. They decided they’d cooked long enough and made their appearance just before midnight Saturday. One weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce; the other 5 pounds 11 ounces, and they were 4 weeks early. Can you imagine if they’d gone full term? Since they had been standing upright (on DIL’s bladder) for the past few weeks, we knew there would be a C-section.

Other than the discomfort/pain of surgery, Daughter-in-law is doing well. So are the boys. Since we’ve been anticipating this event since April, now that it’s here, it almost seems like a letdown. Of course, I’m not the one in the hospital, hoping, praying that I’ll know what to do with two babies. Although we saw the boys through a window, we haven’t gotten to hold them yet. DIL needs her rest, so we didn’t stay long yesterday. Can’t wait until tomorrow.

What does Toddler Girl think about all this? Her favorite show is Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. When Daniel’s sister was born, Dad took Mom to Doctor Anna’s office then the whole family walked home pushing the baby buggy. Since we’ve watched that episode often, I’m sure that’s what T.G. was anticipating. When she went to the hospital last evening, she got to see and touch her brothers. Definitely not what Daniel saw. Later, she and her daddy talked about what all she saw. Still, she can say her brothers’ names. 

We’re just thrilled and grateful that everyone is well. The anticipation is over. Reality is here.