Raising Mommy

Calm before the storm

I enjoyed three full days of peace and calm as the antibiotics kicked in for me, and the Zantac worked wonders on my baby’s acid reflux. We were sleeping in 4 hour stretches and found ourselves settling into a little routine. I was recovering swiftly from the surgery and was enjoying bundling my newborn up in the baby bjorn and taking the pups for walks in the brisk winter days.

Uninvited guests

It was 5:00 on a Sunday night, sometime in December 2010 as I snuggled on the couch with my beautiful baby. Our two sweet english springer spaniels were snoozing on the floor at my feet when suddenly we were startled by knocking at the front door. The dogs leapt to their feet, barking loudly at the intrusion, and on cue, my baby awoke with a start and began to wail. I struggled to get us both up off of the couch and fought the dogs to get the door open without nicking their paws. As I opened the door, the dogs darted out into the night and I faced my landlords - husband and wife who owed the home that I was renting. “Oh, Mr. and Mrs. T., what a surprise! Um…well, come in, please”. As they entered the living room, my mind raced trying to figure out why they would just appear late on a Sunday - (did my rent check bounce? No! I had paid 3 months in advance. Has a neighbor complained about the baby crying or the dogs barking???) The dogs quickly followed them and after a few moments of sniffs and jumps, they settled back onto the floor. (The dogs, not Mr. & Mrs. T). The T’s sat down on the couch, and I sat on the chair facing them, with my baby nestled against my chest. After a long pause, Mrs. T. said; “Oh, so you had your baby! Congratulations!” I was still a put off by the intrusion, so with a bit of frost replied, “Yes, I had a baby girl, she’s six weeks old”. Long pause. I said: “So can you tell me why you both are here?” Mr. T. said, “Well, we sold our other house, that we are living in, so we’re going to need to move back here.” Another pause. “You mean with us?” Mrs. T. (slight laugh) “No. So we’re going to have to ask you to move out.” Instantly the floor drops and my head is spinning. I seriously can’t comprehend this. I can’t find words, I just stare at them, mouth gaping open, looking from them to my beautiful little baby, then back at them, then my baby… You see, I just moved into their home in August, it is now December, just 4 months later. I was seven months pregnant when I signed the lease to rent Mr. & Mrs. T.’s home. At the time I explained that I was looking to settle in to a home for at least two or three years so that I can maintain some consistency for my daughter and with her schedule and daycare. They assured me that I could rent it for three years and then we can re-assess. That sounded perfect to me. I signed on the dotted line.

Another kind of nesting

I don’t need to get into the pain and struggle both physically and mentally, of moving - packing and unpacking while being seven months pregnant with my first baby, all while holding down a high pressure full time job in Boston. You get it. Surviving that was a feat in itself. I spent the last two months of my pregnancy feverishly unpacking and setting up “our” new home so that once my baby arrived, I could focus on her and not on unpacking and putting boxes away. Honestly it was an excruciatingly exhausting way to spend the last two months of pregnancy. And again, I could not have done it without the help of my friends. But fast forward to that cold December Sunday as I faced Mr. & Mrs. T and listened to them tell me that I had 30 days to vacate the home. Just as we were settling into our peaceful existence, these two people were throwing me into a spinning, swirling, cyclone and I could barely hold on long enough to tell them that I needed to process this and don’t want to say anything that I’ll regret. I asked them to consider the fact that I just moved in and just delivered a baby via c-section and have barely recovered and now they are telling me that our world is about to be thrust upside down. I asked them to remember that we signed a lease for 12 months and I know that it would be a major battle for them to uproot a single mother with a newborn especially one with a signed lease. Mr. T. said, “We will be moving back here in 30 days, so I suggest that you start looking for a new place to live”. He said that he will be starting to move his things into the yard soon. I said that I need to take some time to think this through and will call them in a few days and could they kindly leave?

Chaos Ensues

As I shut the door behind them, I felt the room spinning. I sat on the chair, not wanting to go to the couch, the spot where they sat to deliver the news that shattered the floor beneath me. With blood boiling, heart racing, and tears streaming down my face, my sweet baby girl rested peacefully, nestled against my chest, oblivious to the chaos that was to come.

(to be continued…)