Birth is a waiting game. It is not, as depicted on the telly, a short jump from contractions to crowning to convalescence (usually). My nephew made us wait All. Day. yesterday, losing sleep and sanity but gaining waiting-room friends and bonding time.
It began last Thursday with the ultrasound. Baby was already nearly 8 pounds and still two weeks away from his due date, so J and C decided to go to the hospital Monday night for induced labor. I received a text from Beloved right after class: “Call when you can. Baby!” and knew exactly what he meant. We made the trek up to Nashville that night and stayed at their house as they prepared for labor.
Yesterday began as early as 4:00, when our alarm went off and we called Beloved’s mom to find nothing had happened yet. Arrived at the hospital around 6:00 and spent the next 16 hours waiting. I was anxious during that time; anxious for C’s labor pains, anxious to meet Baby, anxious to be there for my sweet sister-in-law. There were many times we thought it was Time, but progress kept slowing as the day wore on.
We found ways to pass the day. Only five visitors could be in C’s room at once, so we took turns sprawling across the chairs in the waiting room. Met a couple other families, also waiting on their babies, and swapped progress updates over cafeteria food and vending machine snacks. Watched more television than I’ve seen in the last month. Napped in the car. One family bought a couple dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts and shared them with us. It was fun, all that anticipation and excitement. For our family, this baby would be the first grandchild, great-grandchild, and first nephew.
Beloved and I were in C’s room when they decided to be done with the labor and have a C-section. J was so precious, sitting at C’s bedside and holding her hand as they made the final call. I could barely contain myself! Here we were, within an hour of meeting Baby, and two of the ones privileged to witness the evening’s turning point! But we couldn’t hoard the moment, much as we wanted to. So we surrendered our wristbands to J’s parents so they and C’s mom and dad could be in the delivery room to greet their grandchild.
You can blame hormones all you want, but I will still insist it was Joy that brought me to tears when Baby finally arrived. While C certainly did all the hard work, the rest of us felt our invested emotions spill out into the room and wash it in love. Beloved and I ran to her room the minute they let us. When we entered and I saw J in the rocking chair holding his son, I knew I could do nothing but love. And when J let us hold him… happiest time of my day!
my beloved, putty in baby's wee hands
clearly, I'm smitten
I’ve been showing off these pictures all day to my classmates. It doesn’t matter to me that I went two days without showering and wore the same clothes today as yesterday. I didn’t feel under-dressed at all, even beside the other ladies in the waiting room who managed to stay all gussied up. I am simply grateful to have been present for the birth of my very own nephew. He’s already captured my heart, that’s for sure!
He’s a lucky baby to have an Aunt and Uncle like you too!