I finished working at Starbucks on Friday November the eleventh. After a year with the company, I was sad to say goodbye to the many friendships I had developed, but not the retail world. Zach and I decided that the strange hours and inconsistent shifts in the coffee business would not be ideal for us once we brought a baby home, so I had put in a notice months before.
My actual due date was November the twenty-second and since I just knew that our girl would come late, I was planning to tackle a to-do list that had been growing for about as long as her. At my thirty-eight week appointment the doctor even acted a bit shock that I was quitting work "so early". Obviously having never been nine months pregnant while working six-eight hour shifts on his feet, he assured me that the baby and I were quite healthy and welcome to work until the actual birth. Needless to say, I stuck to the plan.
Zach and I had the most relaxing weekend, I remember. That Friday night I hung out with the some girls from college at a jewelry party. Afterwards, a big group of our college friends got together to watch a UFC fight at someone's house. At one point I got up to use the restroom, and remember having to steady myself at the feeling of a strong false contraction. For days, I had felt my stomach restricting and tightening but for a moment I thought this one might be "it". Zach was a bit freaked out when I told him about it on the way home, but all was well..
I remember this was the first Saturday in months that both Zach and I were off of work. We relaxed for much of the day. I continued to list and prioritize all the things I was going to get done the following week. I had more braxton hicks, but nothing felt like the real thing. In fact, I had told several people that I was afraid I wouldn't recognize labor when it happened and was sincerely hoping that my water actually broke when the time came (even though my research had told me that something like only ten percent of women have their water break on its own).
Sunday, we went to church as usual but had to leave a bit early because we were meeting friends for lunch to celebrate a birthday. This resulted in several text messages and phone calls inquiring as to whether or not we were leaving early to go to the hospital. I learned, while pregnant, that you can not vary your usual routine much without getting questioned about your welfare.
After birthday lunch, we went to the mall of all places. We very rarely go to the mall, but I had mentioned to Zach that I wanted to see the "Christmas hustle and bustle" (in early November) and we had a few friends that were working that day. We walked for a bit and said hello, before heading home.
That evening we made plans to meet friends at Starbucks for coffee. This has become typical Sunday night practice for us, and as a nice treat a close friends of ours from high school was in town. He tagged along, and afterwards came back to our house to play Bananagrams.
Its funny, this friend of ours made mention of the fact that he would be in town for only two days and it would be nice if I would go ahead and have this baby so that he could meet her. He was one of several friends and family members who had let me know what time would be convenient for them to celebrate Piper's arrival, and wouldn't you believe I actually met every one of their demands.
Anyways, before leaving he jovially asked Zach if he had begun saving for college. For some reason this struck Zach, because after saying goodbye to our friend he got very serious. He looked at me and said, "we are actually bringing home a baby in a couple of weeks...."
We both dozed off on the couch that night, our last night of normalcy, thinking of the way that our lives would be changing in the near future. How near that future, was beyond us.
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