Lauren’s Law: New Home, New Baby

Lauren Burke Meyer

I’m back. In Severna Park that is!

This past October, I took the saying “new home, new baby” as literal as one could. My husband and I had an offer accepted on a new house hours before our second daughter, Riley, was born.

Let me rewind a little. When I last left you on the topic of a “Tale Of Two Pregnancies,” I was comparing my first experience with my daughter, Charlotte, who arrived three days ahead of her due date. I wrote, “One thing’s for sure, I hope baby two is here by the time this is read!” In true Lauren’s Law fashion, baby two was hanging out until the last possible moment and had to be induced. Basically, the opposite of what most pregnant women experience — baby one coming late and baby two early. In Riley’s defense, the world was an especially scary place with the pandemic and political climate.

Anyhow, back to how I ended up getting a house and baby in the same day. The day before Riley’s scheduled induction, we made an offer on a house in Chartwell, where I’d previously grown up and where my parents still reside. Anyone watching the housing market knows it’s a feeding frenzy these days. We were hopeful that we’d get it. However, after other homes in Severna Park didn’t work out, we tried not to get our hopes up too much.

As if we didn’t have a stressful night upon us already. What with me repacking my hospital bag for the fifth time, fielding calls from family members wishing me good luck and folding laundry like I would never have a free moment or free hands again. So, sure, let’s up the ante and make an offer on a house too. Naturally, my husband and I had a sleepless night ahead of many sleepless nights with our newborn.

Distractions can be great while in labor. While pacing around my hospital room, the call that our offer was accepted was the most wonderful of distractions behind my husband’s “dad joke” book.

It’s incredible how much your life can change in one day. What’s even more special about these two major milestones happening on one day is that it was the birthday of my husband’s beloved maternal grandfather and the same grandfather’s mother. I like to think this was not a coincidence but a larger, more spiritual act at play.

“New home, new baby” is now thankfully followed by the new year. It’s understandable that many are ready to put 2020 behind them. I completely understand and can relate. However, I will always cherish these two special milestones that happened this year. One thing is for sure — I want to wish everyone a wonderful 2021.

Lauren Burke Meyer is a Severna Park native who was inspired to write Lauren’s Law as a humorous play on the well-known Murphy’s Law adage: “anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.”