So this little darling is almost like my own. Except I didn't carry her for 9 months or give birth to her and she doesn't live with me. But those are just technicalities.
I'll never forget the morning her mom (one of my best friends) called and told me she was expecting and I'll never forget the day she was born 3 weeks early.
It was 6:30 a.m. on Monday, March 23, 2009. The first day back to school after Spring Break. She sounded like she was almost in tears. She says "I've had the weirdest 24 hours." She then told me her oldest had 2 seizures during the night. He'd never had seizures before so they were quite worried. But then her last words were this…"but that's not all of it….I think I'm pregnant."
My mouth dropped open. I know I didn't have words for a couple of minutes. I was in shock so I knew they were even more so. Having another baby at 38 years old wasn't exactly in their plans.
Fast forward 31 weeks or so and lots of trips to the Chicken Salad Chick. (We won't discuss how I gained weight when she was the one expecting.)
It's a Tuesday morning and I'm subbing at school in one of my favorite classes. I check my phone during snack and there's an email from her saying she was having some contractions and she was heading to the doctor's office, but not to worry she thought it was just Braxton Hicks and she would email me soon.
A couple of hours later I get another email saying they are sending her to the hospital to be monitored, but it would probably be the next morning before they have the baby. I email her back saying I'll pick up her son since I'm at school and will call her when I leave school.
Then my phone battery dies.
A couple of hours later the secretary comes over the intercom asking if I got all the emails my friend sent me. I reply that I thought I had, but would check again. I never get on the computers in a classroom, but this teacher was a friend and I knew she wouldn't mind if I got on one of the student computers to check my email. I got logged in and oh my heavens I thought I would burst. The baby was coming sooner than they expected.
The plan had been for me to be there to take photos of course. And my friend's camera died completely the week before.
School could not get out fast enough. Those twenty-five minutes waiting for school to dismiss were the longest minutes. Another friend met me in the parking lot to get my friend's son and get him to the hospital. Of course the one time I do not have my camera with me was that day. I sped by my in-laws and told the Squirt to hop out and tell his grandparents I was on the way to the hospital. I flew home, grabbed the camera and raced to the hospital.
Thankfully God was slowing things down at the hospital and they didn't get her back for the C-section as early as they thought.
So an hour and 15 minutes after I made it with camera in hand sweet L came into the world and we haven't stopped loving on her since.
She absolutely put on a show for me for her 6 month photo session. When she grins so big her eyes almost disappear. So far her eyes have stayed blue. Brown hair, blue eyes. Yep. I'll take way too many photos of her.
