I miss working on Christmas. I know that is kind of a weird thing to say, but here it is anyway. For about 20 years I worked as a labor and Delivery Nurse. Since the pregnant lady bus stops 24/7 there is always a need to staff for the possibility that another babe will make its entrance into the world. But like many random things its either feast or famine, so generally speaking someone is always working the holidays at the hospital.
In my days of working, everyone had to work holidays. Generally, I worked every other Christmas. I’ve worked all kinds of shifts on Christmas, but the ones I liked the best were on Christmas Eve. Usually, people don’t like to be in the hospital on Holidays, so most women who are close to their due date around the holidays will ask for an induction of their labor so they can be home with their families on Christmas.
Christmas Eve on the labor and Deliver unit was generally a quiet affair. We few nurses who were working would often have a quiet evening of visiting and contemplating the unusual silence. It often gave me pause to think how special that night long ago must have been.
Amidst the bustling city filled with out-of-towners and anxiety about paying taxes and such, in a quiet stable a baby was born. I know how special it is to have been part of the births of over a thousand sweet babes and what a privilege it was to be part of these wondrous events in the lives of families. I can only wonder how much more special it would have been to be there on that sacred night and place to welcome the Savior of the World into his mother’s arms.
