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Date Posted: 15:24:51 12/20/09 Sun
Author:

Page
Subject: Page's Christmas story >>>>
In reply to: Myxtress 's message, "
Christmas Glitter Graphics" on 12:44:47 12/20/09 Sun

An Angel on Christmas
A true story by Juli Page Morgan, �2009

My back was killing me. Of course, I was almost eleven months pregnant, I kid you not, and I�d been standing at the stove all day baking things to take to my in-law�s the next day. It had been a long Christmas Eve already and my two-year-old daughter was bouncing off the walls with excitement, adding to my fatigue. I�d allowed her to help a bit in the kitchen, but she was like a bumblebee in a bottle, unable to remain in one place for very long. My husband finally gathered her up and popped in a video of The Little Mermaid to keep her occupied.

Aching back notwithstanding, I was starving. I�d nibbled all day on the sausage balls and cookies I was making, but I was ready for something substantial. So I cooked a huge supper � chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, black-eyed peas, and biscuits, my favorite meal. I deserved it. After all, this baby in my belly had been due on November 8 and I was still carrying it around. At least, I hoped it was just one baby! There were tons of gifts under the tree sent by relatives who had anticipated having photos of the new arrival with what they�d sent. To say nothing of a stocking embroidered with the name �Sean,� the name we�d chosen for our new son. The son who seemed perfectly comfortable where he was.

My husband washed the supper dishes and my daughter dried, giving me a break. Since my back was still killing me, I decided to take a nice, hot bath. One of the few things we loved about our rental house was the huge claw-foot tub in the bathroom. It was more than large enough for my 5�11� frame to stretch out, and it had more than enough room for two, which is why I was in my current predicament in the first place. I sank into the embrace of the hot water and felt my muscles relax. Sean did a slow roll, making the skin of my abdomen stretch and making me grimace. I couldn�t blame him, though. If he was half as comfortable in his warm bath as I was in mine, no wonder he�d chosen to stay there. My daughter joined me for the last 15 minutes of my bath, and received a good soaping before being dried off and forcibly inserted into her nightgown.

It should have been a relaxing night; my husband was sprawled in his recliner, I was stretched out on the couch, and our daughter had taken up a position at the window, looking for the blinking of Rudolph�s nose. But I wasn�t relaxed. I felt nervous and agitated, like I�d forgotten to do some urgent chore, but I couldn�t think of anything I�d left undone. About 9:30, my husband turned to me with a sigh.

�I wish someone would give it up and go to bed so Santa Claus could come. I�m completely worn out, and ready for sleep.�

�Yeah, well.� I eyed our daughter. �Maybe if you put her in bed and read her a story she�ll stay there.�

�Good idea.� He rose from his recliner with another sigh and called to our daughter. And that�s when I felt it, a slow, inexorable tightening of the muscles of my belly. I held my breath, and my eyes stuttered to the clock on top of the television. I�d had false labor twice, but this was different. This contraction meant business. Oh, hell.
There was a pad of paper and a pen on the coffee table and I snatched it up and recorded the time, hoping for all I was worth that I was wrong, that this was just another bout of Braxton-Hicks. I wanted to have this kid, don�t get me wrong, but not now!

My husband returned to the living room about 30 minutes later and settled in to watch the local news. The pad of paper now resting on the huge mound of my belly now had four different times noted on it, the times in between contractions getting shorter. Still, I kept my mouth shut. It was Christmas Eve, for Pete�s sake, and my name wasn�t Mary. This was no time to be having a baby! I directed mental chastisement to Sean, telling him if he waited another week we�d be in the running for the First Baby of the New Year contest the local newspaper sponsored, and we�d get all kinds of great gifts from local merchants. Sean ignored me, just like he�d been doing every day since November 8.

By the time the newscast ended, I�d had four more contractions and had finally begun to accept the fact that I was really in labor this time. I looked at the Christmas tree and the gifts wrapped in festive paper, wondering how this was going to affect my daughter. After all, she�d been wound up tighter than a spring for over a week, waiting to rip into all that pretty paper. And I had been looking forward to seeing her do it. It appeared all that was going to have to be rescheduled and I hoped she wouldn�t hate her baby brother for wrecking her Christmas.

My contractions were three minutes apart at 11:00 when my husband stood up and announced he was headed for bed.
�Um, wait.� I looked up at him. �I hate to tell you this, but I�m in labor.�

His face went perfectly blank. �You�re what?�

�Labor,� I repeated. �The contractions are about three minutes apart.�

�Why didn�t you say anything?�

I winced. �I hoped I wasn�t.�

Relieving me, he laughed. �Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Do you need help getting dressed?�

�Nah, I got it,� I assured him. �You go get the stinker bundled up and I�ll meet you at the truck.�

I smiled at my daughter�s sweet little face looking over her father�s shoulder as he carried her to the truck, and the saw look of concern she gave me when I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, clutching my belly as another contraction gripped me.

�What�s wrong with Mommy?� she asked.

�Oh.� My husband stopped and glanced back at me. �Your brother�s ready to be born and Mommy�s just helping him.�

Our daughter looked skeptical. �Is it working?�

�God, I hope so,� muttered her father as he put her in the truck.

I hated that truck, but in my advanced state of pregnancy, it was the only vehicle I could get in and out of without the use of a winch. We dropped our daughter off at my father�s fiancee�s house and headed to the hospital.
They checked me out and reassured me that these were no Braxton-Hicks contractions. We weren�t going to win that First Baby of the Year award after all. After I was installed in my room, I was hooked up to a fetal monitor and the fun began. I went into transition almost immediately, and it didn�t help when the nurse looked at me with a pitying expression, saying, �You poor thing, you�re just not getting any relief between those things, are you?� I just glared at her and demanded Demerol.

At four minutes past three o�clock on Christmas morning our angel arrived. The doctor, a friend of my husband�s from high school, beamed at us. �It�s a girl,� he announced.

�It�s a what?� my husband and I asked in unison.

�The ultrasound said it was a boy.� My husband sounded confused.

I was concerned with a more pressing issue after having just given birth to what felt like a toddler. �There�d better not be another one in there!�

There wasn�t. Moments later, a nurse placed all ten pounds and seven ounces of my baby daughter in my arms. She looked up at her father and me with a serene calm and I forgot all about those gifts under the tree, and knew her big sister would, too.

She was the best Christmas gift we ever got.

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[> [> Ah, Page. I love it! Even got a little teary-eyed.>>> --

susiej, 16:06:23 12/23/09 Wed

My son was born on Dec. 3rd though he was due Dec. 19th. Being born on the 21st, I had kicked myself when I heard the due date saying "What the hell? Why didn't you count back by nine months and put a big red x on the calendear." But, hey, we all know it doesn't really work that way.

I had toxemia both times, and was in the hospital induced into delivering early. I never had the water break, the up in the middle of the night, none of it. Yours is such a great story. I can't believe you made all that foot 10 months preggers! What a supermom.

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[> [> Ah Page! I love this! >>> -- Esther, 10:48:40 12/30/09 Wed

Not only did you share something so personal, you did it with style! Your voice showed clearly in this! Just awesome!

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