Waiting ....for a Call

I don't know what gets into me at times but some days, I get to thinking about the weirdest things and then, do a little surfing and sometimes, it even inspires a post from me too.

Right now, the Women's Group at our church is waiting -patiently -(in these kind of situations, one has no choice BUT to wait patiently) for a new baby to arrive. A young couple from our parish are expecting their first baby and it is, supposedly, due any day now, but heck, we all know how contrary babies can be about making their appearance now, don't we?

But we're waiting for the phone to ring to let us know this little one has arrived and then, I can get busy, calling women (and one man) from our church to get two complete meals lined up to be delivered to the couple -and the new baby -the first two days that the mother and child are home from the hospital. I really like this program as I think it says a lot about the caring that the members of our church have for one another.

The last "new" baby to be born to a couple from our parish was back in June and at that time, I had made this computer file with the names of everyone who had agreed to participate in this program and as a result, the family had two full meals delivered to them, in that case, the day after the mother came home and then, her 3rd day home.

This program used to be set up so that one member of the church prepared the entre, vegetable or salad as well as the dessert for new parents and delivered it to them which required two people then to do the cooking and delivery -one person for each day. However, our committee in charge of this program decided last spring to revamp it a bit and set it up so that there are now six people involved and the people doing the cooking can specify if they will fix "whatever" is needed or if they only want to be responsible for one type of item -either the entre, the veggie/salad or dessert. We felt that having only one person fix everything might be a bit of a challenge for some people who may want to offer to fix something but not the whole meal.

And, when I called folks to ask if they would like to be part of this program and explained how we had changed it, I ended up with over 40 people on my list who offered their services!

Pretty good response there, I'd say!

This way, it isn't a responsibility falling almost always to the same people to do this cooking and delivery plus, it makes it more affordable then for folks to contribute just one aspect of the meal instead of the whole shooting match!

But anyway, while thinking of the phone calls I'll be making soon enough to put our plan into action again, I also started to think -and to remember too -about when my youngest was born, almost 35 years ago now.

She was born in February and it was a rough, wicked winter that year! Cold, snowy and also, lots and lots of ice! Our front yard was virtually almost a solid sheet of ice for most of January and February and the roads -often really atrocious!

Back then, there weren't all the stipulations in effect then that there are today about how you could transport babies in your cars. Car seats were not a required item then so I remember when we brought Mandy home from the hospital, I held her in my arms for the 12 mile drive from the hospital to our house. I don't remember now who carried her into the house but considering how terrified the kids Dad was of holding babies of any size or age, I would imagine it was probably up to me to hold her and also, try to make it across the path from our parking area down to the front door, all the while trying to keep the blankets swaddled around her and her face covered too, to protect her from the wind chill effects that we had then too.

Which got me to thinking -regardless of the regulations today about car seats and such like that - how nice it might have been if I'd had one of those baby carriers that fit on either parent and for a newborn, it puts the baby snuggled nicely against your chest, leaving your hands free then to hold on to someone else's arm while you gingerly (and yes, most new mothers do tend to walk very gingerly only 2-3 days after having given birth) to bring a new baby home.

I remember too when Mandy had Maya and Kurtis she had wanted a baby carrier like one of these - an ergo baby carrier - but for some reason or other, hadn't gotten around to get one before Maya was born. Truthfully, I don't remember if she ever got one of those with Maya but she must have had one for Kurtis because somewhere along the way, she got a baby carrier.

She had so many new and different things when she had Maya and Kurtis that is was really a bit mind-boggling how many new things are being made and sold today as a necessity for a baby's well-being and comfort! And a few of them are even made with the mother's ease in mind too! Imagine that, huh?

All kinds of things -some great and very useful, some - well, not so much needed as the new parents may have initially believed I think.

Like all things, a live and learn type proposition but in retrospect, when I think of when my kids were infants, it does make me wonder if one of these baby carriers would have been a big help to me. I'm not sure of the usefulness at times of these but I do think they would go a long, long way in helping a small baby, especially, to bond easier, to be calmer being right next to its mother's body more frequently that way.

Just my thoughts on that item! Who knows what I'll come up with next that may stir a few memories awake in me!