If you have been following this blog, you will know that the main reason we decided to move to PA was the soon-to-be birth of our 7th grandchild. Our daughter Amanda was expecting, and when we found out, Jen began to pack, planning our arrival to be close to the birth. That event was calculated to be somewhere in late July or early August.
Well, we made it up here right at the beginning of July, and Amanda was really pregnant. I mean, she was "great with child" as the phrase might go. She and her Mom kept comparing notes on past family history, and Amanda had already made a decision not to know the sex of the child until it was born, and that she would have this child at home, with a mid-wife attending. Me, I had absolutely no idea what was going on, and liked it that way. Let the women take care of this "birthing" thing, and just let me know what the baby's name was after the fact. Easy enough.
As I said, Amanda was very pregnant when I first saw her, the day we unloaded the truck, and she was still very active. I thought pregnant women kind of kept off their feet a lot - shows you how much I know - but not Amanda. Of course, she wasn't due until the end of the month, or maybe August, so...
Well, on Friday (7/26), Amanda calls and asks Jen if we'd like to do lunch, and then maybe go shopping at a place called Country Junction, which bills itself as the World's Largest General Store. Jen and Amanda said I'd love the place, and I couldn't wait to see what the big deal was. We'll have lunch at the Palmerton Hotel first. Amanda shows up with her girls, Zoe and Madalyn, and we all climb into her SUV and head for chow. I notice that Amanda is checking her cell-phone frequently - must be expecting a call or something - and we sit down at the table and give the waitress our orders.
And that is when I discover that Amanda's "obsession" with her cell-phone is actually an app she keeps checking that is timing her contractions!!! "Yep! Mom, they're about 5 minutes on the dot now!" You have GOT to be kidding me! Here we are, 5 of us, including two little girls, waiting patiently (I use that word now, but I have no idea what "patiently" is at the moment) for our lunch, while the pregnant one is timing her contractions. What the heck are we doing out to lunch when Amanda should be about ready to pop this baby out at any second??? And as it turns out, this has got to be the very s-l-o-w-e-s-t waitress I have ever come across - what seems to be hours comes and goes with no food, and a continuing litany of 5-minute reports. I am thinking, in this order: I guess we'll cancel lunch and get Amanda home ASAP, then, I guess we'll call off the trip to Country Junction, because Amanda is about ready to have her baby, like, ANY TIME NOW!! And then, the food comes, and we eat and before I can say, "Well, thanks for coming to lunch, Amanda!" we pay the bill and...bet you didn't guess it - we head to Country Junction!
Now, I'm trying to remember what to do to help deliver a baby in the back of an SUV. First, call 9-1-1! Give our location. "Where are you, sir?" "Oh, we're in the parking lot at Country Junction!" And then my mind goes blank...this ain't happening. Amanda's baby isn't due for...any minute now!!! What are we doing at the World's Largest General Store? Looking for a STORK?? I can't believe it, but Amanda asks me to drive, because it's a bit hard for her right now. Oh, really?? I guess if she was behind the wheel and decided to give birth it would be a bit tight. But we get to the store, I let everyone out up front and park the car, and meet them all inside.
And we commence to walk around the place for-EVER! I'm being very cool, acting like I'm just another customer, but planning on how fast I can get to the car and get all of us to the nearest hospital! And here is Amanda, walking around, holding her big belly and pointing out all of the neat things, like a sofa for our house, little knick-knacks, and planning on visiting the petting zoo outside. Apparently, 5-minutes-apart contractions aren't all that important right now. And I'm wondering how many of the customers here have ever witnessed the birth of a baby at the petting zoo!
Again, we walk all over the place, and who's the most uncomfortable? ME! Amanda is, like, so nonchalant, like she's just out for an afternoon stroll. But then, she says that she's a little tired (not THAT'S an understatement!) and she'd like to just go home and rest up a little. Ah-hah! Frankly, I can't comprehend that she has made it this far today, but I feel so much better knowing that she is finally going to go home and rest. And I'm just her step-father...who's the nervous one here? ME! I go get the car, we all load up and head for home. I had inadvertently left my credit card at the restaurant where we had lunch, and Amanda had called them to make sure it was there. I wanted to go straight home to our place, let her and her kids head straight home, and I would go down later and get the card. Nope! Amanda wanted me to go by the restaurant and get my card before we went home. Damn! Is there not any way I can get her home ASAP? We stop by, I grab my card, we bail out at our place, and Amanda heads home. And I'm hoping she will get there before she has her baby.
Her youngest, Madalyn, wants to stay and sleep over, so she gets out with us and comes in. She's a sweet little girl and soon she and Nana are having fun, she's doing acrobatics in our living room and we pull up "The AristoCats" on Amazon for her to watch. Amanda and Jen are keeping in touch by texting, just in case "something happens." I take one of the dogs out for a walk, and as I'm coming in the front door, Madalyn tells me that Nana will be sleeping over at her house tonight. Oh, really? And then I realize that Jen is packing an over-night bag. Can only mean one thing - baby is coming or baby is here! Jen comes down with her ag in hand and tells me that the mid-wife is on the way, and that the baby will probably be born within the next several hours. Now, we were just at Country Junction a couple of hours ago...how the heck was Amanda walking around, timing her contractions? I am not comprehending this at all - women are in labor for 18 - 24 hours, bed-ridden, biting on a stick in pain and screaming bloody murder! At least, that's MY version of childbirth. Obviously, something has changed.
And when Jen gets to Amanda's house, she's not there! She's out walking around the freakin' block!!! My daughter Amanda, it seems, just will not stay still. And I am so far out of touch with reality that it takes Jen a long time to explain to me what is really happening - that all of this activity actually is helping Amanda's delivery, that it is gravity and the exercise of walking that is helping make the birth easier. Well, what the heck do I know? I'm just an innocent bystander to this event. And that event happens around midnight on the 26th, or early on the 27th (I'm not sure of the time yet), and after a short labor period, our 7th little grand-baby is born! Her name is Penelope Lane Loper, and she is 20" long and weighs 7 pounds and 10 ounces, and she is a perfect little bundle of joy! Jen comes home around 6 in the morning with the news. This event began our trip North, and God has brought us here with just a few weeks to spare. And now we are proud grandparents and the next episode will begin.
And Jen is so proud of her daughter and new grand-daughter. All of the work and the sweat and the tears of getting up here is now evidence of a new life - a new life for a little baby, and a new life for me and Jen. I just love it when a plan comes together! Thank you, Lord!
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