Wanting a different answer!

The doctor pulled the curtain back and came into our room. My wife was pregnant with our second child. I seem to recall it being our first, but she’s the mom, so I’ll take her word for it. In any event, she was nearing full-term, coming up on her 38th week. The doctor looked a few things over and quickly left before we had a chance to ask any questions.

“Where’s he going,” I asked my wife.

After an especially busy day, my wife started having pains in her stomach. She knew a lot already, having given birth to our daughter, and had read a ton, so she suspected the pains might be Braxton-Hicks contractions, the false contractions that are the body’s way of preparing for true labor. When she called her obstetrician, he told her to go directly to the emergency room.

Image by Pexels.

No, no, I Googled the symptoms, I know I’m right!

Of course, when we got to the hospital, the ER doctor looked her over for a few minutes, left, came back again and then made the call to send her home. I remember being appalled at the decision.

“Where’s the real doctor? He’s too young to be a doctor? He looks like that crazy guy in my Fantasy Baseball League and we don’t trust him with any important league decisions. This guys wants to send you home. Why are we trusting him?” I asked my wife.

Of course, my wife laughed at me and my crazy man routine.

She was used to my impatience. As we walked to our car, she gave a mini lecture on the female body and how Braxton Hicks were just a part of the process. She told me too that expectant mothers can experience Braxton Hicks weeks or months before real labor begins.

Image by Pexels.

Patience is a virtue

I think back often on that experience for a million different reasons. Of course, the young doctor, who I had questioned, made the correct call. My wife’s pains went away as quickly as they came. Our son would come a week later, but I’m reminded too that just because I want something to happen or that I’m willing it to happen, doesn’t make it so. Patience is a part of life. You need to accept and even tolerate delays without getting angry or upset.

In that crazy moment, I had lots of questions, but something a family friend said years ago has always stuck with me. She said that life would bring highs and lows, we need to wait our turn, be patient, and be ready for anything.

I write more about resilience and grit in my post, Losing my patience, on The Heart of the Matter. In particular, I make a plea for insight into how to be more patient, because God knows I need all the patience and trust I can get.

Even all these years later!

Related Story:

Losing my patience!

on The Heart of the Matter