Anticipation

Remember Christmas Eve, as a child, the anticipation of Santa Claus arriving with the gifts requested in a letter mailed weeks before. Or perhaps those requested were whispered in his ear during a shopping visit to a mall or large store. Anticipating his arrival, sleep will not come due to the excitement racing through your veins. The giggles and wiggles of anticipation keep us from sleeping, and sleep must come in order for Santa Claus to arrive.

We anticipate happy events. This past week I have been at my daughter’s helping as she is hospitalized with the soon arrival of triplets. She and the babies are doing well. But due to being in the hospital, she has not been able to finish getting the nursery ready with their arrival. They have everything they will need when they come home, but it is not organized.

I have spent the week folding baby clothes and organizing the dresser and other areas of the nursery. Folding the baby clothes, my mind drifts back to the days when I was anticipating the arrival of my children. The memories of wanting everything just right and how important it was to have the perfect “nest” for the babies to arrive home to. My daughter, due to being pregnant with triplets has been unable to do much of the nesting associated with pregnancy and the hormone changes. With the hospitalization, she is not even there to give directions. Our communication this past week has been instructions and pictures to show what was done and to see if it was what she wants. The pictures help her with the nesting aspect of being pregnant. When I left for the weekend, the nursery clothes, blankets, diapers and other items for the daily care of the babies was all in order. There are a few furniture items that will be added this weekend or the beginning of next week. My daughter is more comfortable with her “nest” for the babies arrival.

I keep my children updated on how things are, and the word travels faster than a wildfire in California. Everyone is waiting for any news on how mom and babies are doing until the babies are born.

Every family member, siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents and great aunts and uncles are anticipating the arrival of the babies, just as we did Santa Claus when we were children. There are the giggles and wiggles, hopeful wishing they could be here for their arrival home. Visits are planned, most are weeks and months after their arrival date, but the excitement is in the air and all conversation. Keeping positive thoughts and praying for good health and thanks for the pregnancy going as good as it has are daily activities each family member participates in.

The doctors and medical staff specialize in multiple or complicated pregnancies. They anticipate all the scenarios of how the pregnancy and delivery may proceed, taking necessary steps to insure to the best of their ability the best outcome occurs. It is their responsibility to inform their patients that their are risks to babies and mothers in being pregnant with multiples.

Anticipation can work in the opposite of excitement of expectant joy. There can be worry and stress associated with anticipation of a bad event or outcome. Our family has experienced the complication of twin to twin transfusion with a set of identical twins two years ago, one of my grandsons died due to this complication. It is easy to give into the anticipation of the possible bad events that could happen, taking the joy of the blessing.

When the negative or bad thoughts of what MIGHT happen enter our minds, it is up to us to change those thoughts. We can control what our minds think about. Focusing on the negative will create negative results in our lives but shaping our actions. We want to give up, or we get depressed and worried. We must take control of those negative thoughts and replace them with happy thoughts. Like Tootles, in Peter Pan who lost his marbles which were his happy thoughts that enabled him to fly. We need to keep track of our happy thoughts, so we can fly above the problems and see the blessings in our lives.