9-1-1

After 8 months I'm finally ready to share this story. (I can't believe that I'm actually doing this.)

It was a warm November evening. As I was putting the last of the laundry in the dryer and started the dishwasher all I could think was TGIF! I was starting to feel very prepared for my business trip to Vancouver I had to depart Sunday morning for Vancouver. Somehow I located my luggage and hauled it upstairs. In my attempt to put together some sort of business maternity attire, clothes were strewn all across my bed. The kids were engrossed in some Disney channel movie. Ahh, 5 minutes to relax and prepare for Canada.

As I walked my (then) 5 month pregnant self upstairs, the phone rang. It was my close friend Samantha. She was in tears and had just been laid-off her job of 18 years. (Earlier that year her 5 yr old son Holden, had been involved in an accident and nearly lost his left eye.) As I listened to her discuss her feelings of anguish and betrayal from her colleagues and the loss of her career I could tell that she needed my undivided attention. I closed the door to my room and locked it.
Samantha and I chatted for about 5 more minutes and I ended the call. (I needed a potty break. You know pregnancy can do that to you.)

As I was in my tiny water closet in my room I could hear the kids knocking on the door. I kept yelling, "Be right there." Then they knocks went away. I finished up and was washing my hands when I heard my creaky front door open. I ran to my bedroom door to yell at Karissa for opening the door. When to my horror there were 5 fireman running in my house. Oh, and my neighbor across the street yelling, "OH JESUS, YOU ARE OK!" I immediately asked where my kids were and was told they were across the street at her house. Ignoring everyone I ran over and got them. What the @#$% is going on???

It seems as though about 2 minutes after I closed my bedroom door, my cell phone rang. Karissa, (my then 5 yr old) promptly answered it. From what I've been told the conversation went about like this. "Hi Karissa, it's Auntie Nae Nae. Where's your Mom?" K-"Um, I don't know." L-"Can you look for her?" Karissa still engrossed in her TV show "I can't find her." L-"What do you mean you can't find her? Is her car there?" K- "I don't know." L- "Can you look." K- "The car is here." L- "Go find your Mom. Is she upstairs? Look for her." (Linnae growing increasingly panicked.) K-"My mom's door is locked and she's not answering."

At that point Linnae (out of concern) told Karissa to take Addi and go across the street to my neighbors and hand her the cell phone. Linnae and the neighbor decided to call 9-1-1.

As you can imagine that short walk across the street was the worst walk of shame of my life!Maybe it was the 2 firetrucks, ambulance and many neighbors staring? The fireman just shook their heads as I apologized profusely and walked inside my house.

The worst part of it all was that Linnae had called Matt at work and he was beside himself that something had happened to me. He left work in tears and was driving home when I called him. Let's just say there wasn't a lot of speaking that evening.

During my entire business trip I felt horrible for the stress I out everyone through. Everyone learned a few important lessons. 1. Never trust a 5 yr old that answers the phone. 2. Always call the house phone. (No one called the house phone which I would have answered.) 3. Pregnant ladies sometimes need an extra long time in the potty!

P.S. All during my business trip I was sure that CPS was going to pick me up at LAX upon my arrival back to the U.S.