Twenty Years!

 

 

Today is our 20th Anniversary, which is insane.

I have been walking a bit down memory lane this week, with the listing of our old house and the fact that we have been married for TWENTY years.

I thought I might share this gem of a story with you.

I was 20 when I became pregnant.

It was a surprise! (Like all of them)

At the time, I was going to school to be a teacher and working at the hospital.  I had learned a lot about pregnancy from working with this group of women.  What to do-what not to do.

One weird rule they all had there was DO NOT TELL ANYONE YOU ARE PREGNANT UNTIL YOU ARE AT LEAST 12 WEEKS ALONG.

Well, I did not care for this rule and I did not understand it.  I told everyone within the first five minutes, which made for an unbearably long pregnancy for all my kin.

Well, after I told some work people, a few of them scolded me for telling so early and I felt bad.  And they said that I shouldn’t tell anyone yet because I might lose the baby.  So, naturally, I became terrified.  Especially since a fellow coworker had recently miscarried and that was awful.

So.  I was 20 years old and about 6 weeks along.  David had already left for work.  I got up and went to the bathroom.  I turned to flush and looked in the toilet and saw something floating in there.

Friends.  I was devastated.  And I just knew it was my baby.  And I knew it was probably because I told people too early.  Because I was 20.

I went and grabbed a plastic cup and dug it out of the toilet.  It seemed the most reasonable thing to do.  I set it on the counter and stared at it.  I was even positive I saw a spinal cord.

Naturally, I called my mother.  I could not call David because he is definitely not a fan of getting phone calls at work.  Something about being inconvenienced while crawling through crawl spaces and using drills, etc.

I called mom.

Mom:  Hello?

Me:  I lost the baby.

Mom:  What?  How?

Me:  It came out when I peed this morning.

At this point I am sobbing.

Mom:  Well, are you sure it was the baby?

Me:  What else would come out of me?

Mom:  Call the doctor.

Me:  They don’t open for another two hours!

Mom:  Well, call when they open.

So.  I had to wait two hours.  And then I called the doctor’s office, who took pity on me and put me through to a nurse right away.

Nurse:  What’s the matter?

Me (crying):  I think I had a miscarriage.

Nurse:  I am sorry, hon.  Tell me what happened.

Me:  Well, I woke up and I peed, and then I saw it floating in the toilet.

 

Nurse:  Can you describe “it” to me?

Me:  Sure.  Um, it is blueish-gray and looks like it might have a lint-like texture.

Nurse:  Interesting.  Sweetie, do you think that it was maybe actually lint and not a baby?

Me:  Well, that’s crazy.  Do people normally pee out lint?  Why would lint come out of me?

Nurse (sighing):  Hon, are you in pain?  Any bleeding or cramping?

Me:  No.  I feel fine.

Nurse:  Maybe just call us back if anything else comes out of you, ok?

And guess what, Reader.  I heard a slight chuckle in her voice.  Which infuriated me, obviously.

Me:  You don’t want me to come in and get checked out?

Nurse:  No, Hon.  I think you are gonna be ok.

I hung up, upset.  I stared at the baby in the cup.  The baby was starting to disintegrate a bit.

I was mad.  Mad at the nurse for not caring and very confused as to what to do next.

And then, Reader, it was like God decided to have mercy upon me.  And I was reminded that something very strange happens to David every day of his life.  In fact, it happens to this very day as well.

Every day, he gets a wad of belly button lint.  No one knows why.  I have never gotten belly button lint.  But he does.  Every day.

I decide it was time to call David.  At work.

It is hard to hear him as there are hammers and drills working about him.

Me:  David!  I am sorry to bother you at work.  I have a VERY IMPORTANT question for you.

David:  What?

Me:  What did you do with your belly button lint this morning?

David:  My what?

Me:  Your belly button lint!?  What did you do with it?

David:  I don’t know.  I think I tossed it in the toilet.  Why?

Me:  NEXT TIME, FLUSH.  I have been mourning the loss of our child all day!

David:  Um, ok?

I am happy to report the nurse was right.  Baby Kate was just fine and she is now 17.

Happy Wednesday!