The Swiss Army clearly has it in for me

When I was pregnant with Alex, Reto had military service at the very end of my pregnancy. (Alex’s due date was February 9; Reto was in the military January 24th to February 4.) For the average Swiss, "in the military" means at a site someplace in Switzerland (you're expected to remain there overnight during the week but are generally allowed to go home over the weekends) so this is not, in the grand scheme of things, a giant tragedy. It's not as if he had been off in Iraq while I was giving birth to a child he wouldn't see for months. I'm well aware of that. It's annoying at worst. Nevertheless, it is annoying to be home alone in your 39th week. We were still living in Grafenried back then, and although we have a car and a good train connection to Bern, it can feel fairly isolated when you're speeding towards your due date and know you’ll be spending your nights alone. I arranged for our friend Robin to stay over for a few nights while Reto was away; of course it snowed about 10 inches that week and Robin, California girl that she is, has never driven in the snow in her life. We quickly decided that if I did go into labor Robin would provide moral support and company but Reto’s parents or a cab company would provide the transportation. Reto came home over the weekend and since he wasn't scheduled for military service in the week of my actual due date, I figured we were pretty well covered.

Do I even need to say that Alex arrived early? At least he had the great good sense to jump start my labor on the middle Sunday of Reto’s service, meaning he was at home with me when my water broke in the middle of the night. Alex was born Sunday night, and Reto was graciously granted leave on Monday, but Tuesday he had to go back into service. He was stationed about 2 hours away and was allowed to leave overnight for the remainder of the week, so he drove two hours home in the evenings, saw us in the hospital at night and then early the next morning before the two hour drive back. It wasn't ideal, but it worked out okay since I stayed in the hospital all that week anyway. If we'd been in the States, where they send you home after a day or two, it would have been awful to go home to an empty house with a newborn. As it was, I stayed in the hospital my standard five days and we all went home together on the following Saturday. The one thing that went awry was that we didn't have enough baby clothes at home. At some point we stopped shopping because Alex – known in utero as “The Blob” - was starting to look a bit huge and the size 50's (for 50 cm long) were starting to seem a wee bit small. We figured we'd wait until the baby was born, see how big it was, and then Reto could finish shopping while I was still in the hospital. Since as it turned out Reto was in the military while I was in the hospital that didn't happen and he had to buy some panic onesies on Saturday afternoon. They were overpriced, but remain among the cuter onesies Alex ever had.

Some of you can probably see where this little trip down memory lane is headed. This baby is due December 10 and Reto has military service – wait for it – December 3 through December 7. Isn’t that great!? (Robin, I can hear you laughing.) And during weeks 36 and 37 he'll be attending courses in Zurich where he will, in all likelihood, stay overnight during the week. Okay, Zurich is only an hour or so away, but still. That's an awful lot of away time in the final four weeks. Given that Alex was early, and most second babies arrive before their due date, I’m thinking we have a small window of opportunity – week 38 – to have a panic-free onset of labor. Needless to say the plan is to have all of our rubber duckies in a row before that Zurich course begins. And the cab company's phone number on speed dial.

And if all else fails, the hospital is only a 15 minute walk from our apartment.