Let The Phone Ring

Nine months pregnant, in the throes of labour, Crystal Marcos calmly applied makeup and prepped herself in the bathroom mirror. She wanted to feel good for what would turn out to be one of the most important days of her life.

“That’s it,” her husband Chris demanded. “We’re going to the hospital now.”

By this time, Crystal had probably already dilated to 6 or 7 centimeters. But she was in no hurry. She knew the Woman’s and Children’s hospital was only a couple of minutes away. She had back labour and wanted to spend as much time as possible in the comfort of her own home. We all know how uncomfortable waiting room chairs are and Crystal wanted her baby introduced into this world within the best feelings as possible.

When they arrived, Crystal knew it was her time. “This baby is coming now,” she calmly told the nurses. The attendant nurse was in disbelief. As a first time mother, statistically births are long and labour-intensive as the body has never been through this process before.  The nurse checked her. Crystal was dilated to 8 centimeters. The baby was coming.

Three hours later and opening her own eyes after giving the last push, Crystal saw her daughter for the first time. Wide-eyed and alert, Kaylee looked around the room. Crystal forgot the pain, and held her daughter with her own mother and husband by her side.

The love for her daughter began to grow as soon as Crystal found out she was pregnant. She made a commitment then to pay attention to her child and to let the phone ring if necessary, when they are doing something together.

As she said, “You can always call someone back.”

Asked to describe her love for Kaylee, Crystal said, “It isn’t the same as loving your mother, your siblings, your work, or even your spouse. It is a different kind of special love unto itself.” No words can do it justice.

Her love for her daughter, made Crystal realize her mother’s love for her. Petty grievances went away and Crystal saw how her mother had expressed her own love for Crystal throughout her own life. She thanked her mother for everything.

The next day, after giving birth surrounded by love, Crystal and Kaylee left the hospital healthy and happy with but only one warning—please come in a little earlier next time; second births are so much quicker.

Crystal Marcos is the author of the children’s book Bellyache, which can be found at www.CrystalMarcos.com