The hazards of sitting in the front row at church

This weekend Owen and I experienced one of the time-honored traditions of pregnancy: the “Oh My God she’s in labor” scare. Fortunately, and somewhat humorously, it was not either of the two of us who were scared.

In an effort to be good parents, we decided several months ago that we would begin attending church again. The only problem is that we don’t like the only Catholic Church in our community. And so we drive every Sunday morning to go to church with Owen’s mom, at the church where he and I were married and where he went all the time as a kid. They always sit in the front row, which means we always sit in the front row too. This has two distinct disadvantages: 1.) everybody can watch you and 2.) you can’t sneak out unnoticed to use the restroom.

This week at church, I was not feeling so well. My breakfast was not sitting well inside me and I was just feeling off. As it happens, during one of those very long standing up parts that occurs at the beginning of the Liturgy of the Eucharist, I began to feel very light headed, woozy and very hot (and I never even take my coat off in church because it’s so cold in there). This is of particular note because I felt the same way when I passed out at the dentist’s office recently. So, I decided it would be for the best if I sat down for a minute. I admit, I may have kind of plopped into the pew. I bowed my head and closed my eyes and tried to just let everything settle for a minute.

After church we stopped at a gas station to fill up and the two ladies who had been sitting behind us at church pulled in to fill up too. Owen was out doing the dirty work and I was sitting inside, but I could hear him engage them in the following conversation:

Them: “How is your wife? Is she okay?”
Owen: “Oh yean, she’s fine. She was just feeling a bit light-headed.”
Them: “Oh good – we thought maybe she had gone into labor! But we knew everything would be okay because we’re both nurses! We could have handled it! When is your baby due?”
Owen: “Easter Sunday…April 16th.”
Them: (Oohing and aahhing)

Owen thinks they may have been disappointed at not having been able to play such an important role in the Christ Child’s second coming right there in the middle of the front row at church. I told him that I have no intention of going to church when I’m in labor.

And (I almost forgot!), here is this week's update on Sam's growth and development. This week marked 32 weeks of development - more or less 8 months.