Murphy’s Law

I think it is safe to say that the man upstairs is laughing at me. I mean, seriously, if he has any sense humor whatsoever, he has to be.

Picture this- it is 3 am. I am wide awake. Not so uncommon, being that Evan doesn’t sleep through the night. But, here’s the rub- Evan is still sound asleep next to me. No. I am up because I can hear a very distinct beeping sound. This beeping sound is distinct because I heard it about a year ago at this same time. It is the smoke detector’s low battery chirp. And Chris is out of town at a conference.

Last year, he was at this same conference. I was 7 months pregnant, and woke to the same beep. Through my sleepy-haze, I discovered that the smoke detector in question was the one in our bedroom, and was naturally located at the highest peak of the ceiling, about 15 feet up. Somehow I managed to go to the garage, drag in the ladder and set it up. Not easy with a baby-bump.

I then managed to crawl up the ladder, the whole time cursing fire-safety and battery companies. I get to the top, only to discover that I still can’t reach the blasted smoke detector. I crawl down the ladder and burst into tears. (I am 7 months pregnant, so this, of course, is completely normal.)

After drying my tears, I come up with a plan. The plan involves the Swiffer and one of those rubber bands that they put around broccoli at the grocery store. (Hey, it was 3am; I, for one, think this is pure genius.)

Swiffer in hand, I once again crawl up the ladder, this time praying instead of cursing. When I get up there, I can just manage to pry the battery cover open so the beeping stops. The praying obviously was more effective. I decide to leave the ladder for the morning, and after using the bathroom a few more times (the joys of pregnancy), I managed to get back to sleep.

Luckily, this time around, the smoke detector in question was downstairs, at a nice normal height. In fact, all I need was a chair to reach it. The beeping stopped, and I was able to fall back to sleep just in time for Evan to wake up to nurse. Bless his heart.

I told Chris that he is not allowed to go out of town again unless he changes all the batteries in the smoke detectors first. He laughed, but I think we have an accord.

On a side note- look how big my baby is getting! It is hard to believe that a year ago he was still chilling out in my belly. Time flies, that is for sure.