One of my best friends welcomed baby Ella into the world last week.

Ella (whose gender was a surprise!) came a little earlier than Paige and Roy had expected. Paige, whom I’ve known since the third grade, lives in Arizona. So I’m not entirely certain when I will get to meet Ella. But her arrival set off a flood of emotions for me!

Paige & I in sixth grade circa 1992. (Can't believe I'm posting this to the World Wide Web.)

And again junior year of high school...

And again at Paige & Roy's wedding!

In my hormonal world, the happiness and suddenness of Ella’s arrival brought on (you guessed it!) a crying fit.

On Friday evening, this call took place between me and my mom:

Me: Paige had her baby! It’s a (sniff) girl. (sniff, sniff) Her name is (sniff) Ella. (sob)
Mom: Is everything Ok? Jen, what’s wrong?
Me: (sob, sob) She was three weeks early. I’M NOT READY. (sob, sob, sob)

I somehow internalized the whole situation as an opportunity to have a panic attack about the fact that I have an empty room that’s supposed to be nursery, no carseat, that I’m nowhere near organized for a leave of absence from work and that I don’t yet have daycare picked out for after maternity leave.

After the hysterics had passed, I regrouped. First things first: Go out and buy something pink to send to little Ella.

Then, renew my focus on baby preparations, bite the bullet and make some necessary phone calls, etc… And, as luck would have it, the furniture company called the next morning to tell me my order had finally arrived.