Play-by-Play of the Fateful Day

Ok, folks, this is more for me than maybe anyone else. I just want some record of this time as a dad that my friend Lee called "The FOG." So, it is a long post, but here goes. A play-by play of that crazy Tuesday...

9 am
Starts like a normal work day for me. J of course is off for the week for Mid-Winter break. I got an ambitious amount of work done, and Jackie begins complaining of slight pain. We google the query, "What do contractions feel like?"

10 am
Tom got a haircut

11 am
Tom works thru lunch, since I will be eating with a patient on a pastoral visit call.

11:30
I receive an email from Ajay reminding me that since we have our regularly scheduled doctors visit tonight, it may very well be the case that they will take the baby tonight. His point? He and Loukia just wanted to remind me that this afternoon would possibly be the LAST chance for any last minute bungee jumping or sushi, or whatever I want to do before becoming a dad.

11:31
I laugh at Ajay, sending him an email lovingly mocking him and his prophetess wife.

11:45
I work. J complains again of a tightening. "Well," we laugh, "you ARE pregnant, there will be some tightness. It's probably nothing." Ha ha.

1:00pm
J drives to Forest Hills to get her nails done and do a little shopping.

1:30
I have a nice talk with Dom about worship Sunday, and we joke that as far as sermon planning we KNOW for SURE I will be here THIS Sunday, the 22nd, and as far as March 1, we will wait and see. Dom jokes that "All bets are off" if this baby comes early, but the odds of that happening are so slim.

2:00
I leave for my pastoral care hospital visit. I have lunch--a gyro with too many onions. It was not too good. The pita was good, but the meat bland and the fries were from the freezer. White sauce was sub-par. I knew I should have gone to a street meat vendor. "But hey," I think to myself, "there will be plenty of time later for that."

3:30
Jackie and I get the Cord Blood Registry stuff taken care of. CBR tells me we have plenty of time before our scheduled C-section on Tuesday the 24th. They will overnight the CBR collection kit. "What if we were to go into labor tonight?" I ask, half-jokingly. "Not to worry," she says, "the doctor will have kits available for us to use." (On the SLIGHT chance that happens, right?)

4:00-5:00 pm
Jackie eats her fateful "SNACK." The orange and pudding cup heard round the world.

4:00-5:00pm
I prepare for my 8:30pm phone pre-marital counseling session. Even though our doctor visit is for 7:00, Jackie and I are usually in and out so fast…

5:30
J and I head out for errands and make 2 short-sighted decisions. 1--I turn call forwarding off my home phone. I guess my thinking was the sound quality would be better for the 8:30 conference call. 2--Jackie prepares left over pot roast YUM in the CrockPot. This way, dinner will be waiting for us when we get done at the doctor.

6:00pm
One good decision. We pick up our laundry and I felt the need (unexplainable looking back) of stocking up on CLIF energy bars. I get almost a dozen and just throw them in the car. I toss a magazine in Js purse for the doc's waiting room.

6:30
We arrive at the Dr. early, but get seen right away.

6:45
Dr. W says, "Hmmm…I think maybe you are having contractions. Let's see." So they strap J to a machine that checks the babies heart beat and also mommy's contractions. Sure enough, J is 2 cm dialted, and in early phase of labor. The baby's heart beat indicates that she is happy. The mommy's contractions mean she is also ready. We knew that with a BREECH baby, you had to stay ahead of active labor, but…what does all this mean we wonder. And why does everyone want to know what time did Jackie eat last?

7:00pm
Two doctors are conversing in the hallway in jovial terms. "What time did she eat?" "Really, a pudding cup?" "Well, I could do it tomorrow?" "Nah, I can do it." "You sure? I could…" "No, I will go home, have dinner, then we will do the surgery tonight around 11." Jackie and I, hearing all this, wonder upon whom, exactly they will operate?

7:05pm
"So, you two will leave from here, go over to LIJ, check in, and we will get you in the OR around 11:00," our Doctor says nonchalantly.
Us: "Excuse me? Like OR, like operation, like C-Section?"
Doctor: "Yep, she is ready to come out!"
Us: "…"
Me: "Dr., are you really going to operate on her tonight?"
Doc: "Yep, we could do it earlier if she hadn't eaten. But how did she know?"
Me: "Dr., if she had known she would have had a much BETTER meal!"


7:06pm
"Uh, Tom," Jackie says, "I am going to freak out now."

7:15
The freak out sounded like this (Read the following as fast as you can.)
Ok, so this is really happening are you kidding me we don't have any bags my gosh the crock pot is turned on Ajay and Loukia can go I can run home quick and YOU ARE NOT RUNNING HOME OR GOING ANYWHERE, TOM and I don't have the pre-marital couple's phone number to cancel and how the heck do we get to LIJ and not even a decent magazine and…

7:30
Phone calls to our parents. Interesting results.

8:00-8:30
A total blur. Check in to Labor and Delivery. We meet our chipper, kind, and yet somewhat scatterbrained nurse. We call Ajay and Loukia for help gathering things, Bindu and Johnson to help find a phone number, Diane to turn off the crock-pot, etc...Jackie is all prepped for surgery with that laughable "I can't believe it" look, as seen here...

 

Then Loukia arrives (Ajay is circling looking for parking and entertaining his kids.) This is a shot of her with our suitcase she packed for us. Loukia: friend, porter, and prophetess.

 

Well, time to hang up, Jackie, you are going in to surgery!