Shift Change

There are two things that will make a police wife quake in her boots. The first is the THE phone call. You know the one that ends with the wife racing out the door to the hospital. The second is shift change.

Seriously, shift changes are like earthquakes to the police officer's family. While not always bad enough to cause the pictures to fall off the wall, it will at least shake things up a bit and leave you not wanting to open the soda for a few days.

In our 7 1/2 years of marriage, we have had 6 shift changes. Five of those were in the first 4 1/2 years. But, for the last three years, and for all of Snugglebug's life, we have been on the same shift. We have thoroughly enjoyed not having to shake up our little world because to be honest, Snugglebug shakes it up enough by himself.

For the last three years, we have been on 3rd watch. It is not the easiest shift and certainly not the hardest. I can attest to that since we have literally had every possible schedule.

This shift change is from 3rd watch (evenings, 4pm to midnight) to 2nd watch (days, 8am to 4pm). We actually were given a choice this time, which is also unusual. We weighed the pros and cons and decided that it would be nice to have dinner together as a family in the evenings.

Less than a week after making the decision and being notified that the transfer had been accepted, we learned the move would only be temporary. In four months, my hubby will be transferred back to third watch. So, in two weeks we begin the shake-up. We have already started changing schedules and thinking about new routines. And about the time we get used to the new schedule and routines, we will change back to what we have now. How's that for confusing?

With the shift change, we will eat dinner together as a family every night for the first time since Snugglebug's birth and since our first year of marriage. (He was working days when we first married.) For the last three years, we have been on opposite schedules, for the most part and now, we will be on the same schedule. It will be odd.

As it stands now, I am used to eating with just Snugglebug and going through the bedtime routine without help. I've never had someone there to look after Snugglebug while I get dinner on the table or to help with the bedtime routine. I don't really know what I am missing, but after four months of being a family, it will be hard to go back to dinners without hubby and being on opposite ends of the day from one another. Ah, the joy of being a police wife. One never has to worry about boredom.

The Call No Policewife Wants to Get

On Tuesday night, I got the call a policewife never wants to hear. Fortunately, my husband was coherent enough to make the call himself.

He had been in a severe accident and spun head-on into a brick wall. Surprisingly enough, I was calm and able to think through my plans. This is highly unusual for me. Typically, I panic and can't think straight.

Before throwing things into the diaper bag, I said a prayer and called my mom to pray with me. We prayed for healing and I prayed for no paralyzation.

I was ready to rush out the door to the hospital in 15 minutes flat, but bad weather was rolling in complete with tornado watches and warnings, and my husband's fellow officers didn't want me driving in the weather. So they sent a squad car to pick me up. I was very grateful!

Once we were at the hospital, I found my husband lying flat on his back in a neckbrace. They had already run x-rays and a catscan and were waiting to run an MRI. My brother-in-law, also a police officer, was already there as was his wife. There were also several other officers who work with my husband coming and going from his ER exam room. All were so helpful and were constantly offering to assist me with anything I might need or want. They also kept the mood light.

If you have never been around police officers, then it is hard to explain their humor. Suffice to say the more dramatic or morbid the scene or topic the more humor they can find in it. And this was no different. My husband was talking and joking around with them which put my mind at ease.

The MRI was going to be a long wait or so we thought, the nurses and doctors made some calls and the MRI tech came in at 1 am with her two kids, 6 and 10 years-old, in tow to do the MRI. The next obstacle was finding someone to read the MRI at such a late hour, but the nurses thought they could find someone. About an hour or hour and a half later, they too came through. The doctor read the MRI and discovered a bone spur from the C6 vertebrae. This sent a shot through me as he explained that one wrong move and my husband could be paralyzed. He ordered a neuro-surgeon to consult before releasing my husband.

At 3 a.m., Snugglebug and I headed to my in-law's home to spend the night. Another officer supplied transportation and was very gracious. My husband saw the surgeon the next morning, first thing, and the surgeon advised that my husband take it easy. He didn't think the bone spur would be an immediate problem but suggested surgery sooner rather than later. At 10 a.m., my husband was released from the ER and was brought to his parent's home via squad car.

Through all this, the other police officers were more than gracious. I was so grateful to have such wonderful people surrounding my husband on a daily basis. Today, my husband is home. He is taking some time off from work till he sees the surgeon again. Snugglebug and I are looking forward to having him home with us. And I have a new found sense of gratitude for him and for our family as a whole.

I am also very grateful that in our five and a half years of marriage, this is the first call I have recieved of such urgency. I am also glad to know how I will react should such a call come in again. You never really know how you will react. As a policewife, you prepare yourself for such a call, but everynight before bed, I pray for his safety and that God will bring him home again. I am thankful that God answers prayers before they are even needed!