Waiting can be hard sometimes. Hard for a mother-to-be in the last weeks before her baby’s birth. Hard for grandparents who are excited too, not to mention aunts waiting, one wishing the baby would be born on her birthday– today, the 11th [ though WordPress already calls it the 12th]. Extended family members and friends think each call is for an announcement. I have to say, not yet, but soon. My list is long, family and a great long list of friends. Two long lists of newbabynews for my email connections and phone calls for those who either don’t have email or who barely check their Inboxes.

A friend mentioned today to enjoy my last week or so until the grandchild comes. She has three grandchildren and divides her free time between them. In the new year, she’ll have another one to celebrate. It will change things, she says. I believe it, and yet until the moment comes, I will appreciate the time I have. Until the baby is born, I have things to do, one of them being the last bit of machine quilting on the baby quilt. What am I waiting for?

This is the time of year for canning and preserving the abundance of harvest that I get at market or my parents’ garden, and tomatoes on our plants that are finally ripening. My shelves are filling and I have a bit more to do, for I imagine that once the baby comes, I will have less inclination to spend my time in a steamy kitchen filling jars or containers for the freezer. I have promised to be available to the new mother in the first weeks after the baby is born.

Before I could finish this post, we got a call from the hospital, our son-in-law telling us that they are at the hospital and that labour is in progress. Lord, be with my daughter in these hard moments, and bring both mother and baby through it safely.