| Our youngest son has always been full of surprises.He’s our fifth kid, and we thought after that many we would know everything. But starting at birth, he has kept us on our toes.For one thing, he was the first and only child that we decided not to find out the gender before the birth. I was absolutely convinced he would be a girl, so that was a shock.
His birth was even more unexpected. Up until that point, all our kids had a fairly long labor and generally came after their due date. We anticipated a similar experience with him.But my wife awakened me in the middle of the night, a couple of weeks before his predicted arrival, and announced it was time to go. Based on previous experience, I was content to load up slowly and wait for Grandma to come for our other children before we left. But my wife quickly grew insistent we should leave immediately, as her contractions worsened. By the time we drove the short distance to the freeway, my wife was screaming and yelling in a way I had never seen before. At this point I found her jumping and bopping around pretty funny, although I tried to keep my amusement to myself. I was wise enough to know women in labor generally do not appreciate being teased about their guttural screams. But ten minutes later, I was no longer laughing. My wife made it clear she didn’t think we would make it to the hospital to have this baby. Not being a doctor, I was adamant that I was not delivering our child. “No, just wait!” I implored. “We’ll make it, don’t push!” I don’t know if you have ever told a crowning woman not to push, but it’s not very effective. So I hit the gas, broke a few traffic laws, and prayed I wouldn’t get pulled over. We finally made it to the hospital, and my distraught wife insisted she couldn’t walk in and asked me to go find a wheelchair. I didn’t want to leave her alone, but with no one around at 1 AM, I saw no other choice but to go find help. So I sprinted into the hospital and headed up two floors to the L&D unit. By the time I got a nurse and a wheelchair and returned to the elevators, I was getting worried about my choice to leave my wife in the car. But as we waited to go back down, we heard loud screeching coming from the approaching elevator car. “Ah!” I said with relief. “It sounds like she is on her way!” Well, we made it into a room by the skin of our teeth and a lucky nurse got to catch the baby. I was so relieved I had not become an instant midwife that I barely registered that it was a boy. It was one of the wildest adventures of my life, but what a story! So, if you ever get to thinking you have been around the block and you know what’s what, I am here to tell you: don’t get cocky. Stay sharp and ready for anything. Life loves to throw you surprises and test your flexibility. And when that happens, it’s always best to keep a good sense of humor. Even if your spouse doesn’t appreciate your jokes. |
