“From your head down to your toes You’re not much, goodness knows But you’re so precious to me Sweet as can be Baby of mine” ~ Baby Mine, Bette Midler
It’s believed that, at this point, B.B. can hear me. Something I read actually said that there’s a theory that if an expectant mother sings the same song repeatedly while pregnant, that the baby will recognize the song when it’s born. And so, I tried to think of a song that’s soothing and appropriate for B.B. When my niece was a baby, my mom would sing the Lonely Goatherd from The Sound of Music to soothe her. Hey, whatever works, right?
The first thing that came to my mind was Baby Mine, sang by Bette Midler in Beaches. It’s calming, it’s gentle and it’s about love. What could be more appropriate. I sing it in the shower, when I’m making breakfast and when I’m just feeling maternal. And so, when I was in a car accident during work on Friday, I sang that song to B.B.
I had just gotten off the phone with my supervisor after leaving a client’s house and was on my way to type up some paperwork for court. I stopped at a light and was hit from behind. While the car that hit me had its bumper hanging off, my car barely had a scratch. But I wasn’t concerned about my car. Safety first says to wear your seat belt but, when in an accident, your seatbelt tightens and presses right into the baby (my belly isn’t quite big enough yet to get the lap part of the belt to stay under my belly.) While I know that B.B. is surrounded by tons of protection, I was still terrified for my baby. And I worried that my fear and emotions were making my heart pump blood to B.B. too quickly. Which just made me more scared. Of course, the guy who hit me and the three other guys in his car, as well as his sister, all got out of the car and were screaming in my face and making matters worse. And then his sister threatened to punch me in the face. Not usually one to back down from defending myself, I knew that I had someone else to protect and I let it go until the police came and I filed a report. By this time, I was hysterical and having trouble breathing. And cramping.
I called my doctor expecting her to tell me just to keep an eye for blood, etc. But because I haven’t really felt any movement yet, the doctor told me to go to the hospital and be checked out just to be safe. My world was spinning around me and I didn’t know how to make it stop. I waited in the ER for two hours before anyone saw me. Two hours. What if something was wrong with my baby??? And I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink anything. Um, hello, I’m pregnant!!! Finally, I was wheeled in for an ultrasound and got to see B.B., moving around, as always. That is a type of relief you can never put into words and can only understand if you’ve experienced it yourself. At the end of the day, B.B. was fine. My back is banged up, I can’t go back to work right away and I am in constant, sometimes debilitating, pain. And I can’t take anything for it but I don’t care. My baby is okay and that’s all mommy cares about. It’s amazing how quickly we make that transition.
And, as I lay here on the heating pad (only 15 minutes at a time for B.B.’s sake), preparing for a house full of guests for C.C.’s birthday, I keep singing to my baby. Maybe it comforts me more than it comforts B.B. I’ll never know, I suppose. But does it really matter? What makes me calmer and happier ultimately creates a healthier environment for B.B.’s growth. And when B.B. is born and is crying his/her little head off, I’ll sing this song to him/her and test the theory:
My Journey Through Mommyville 