.

About a boy

It all started several days ago; A technical discussion. I was on my afternoon smoke break with a couple of my work buddies in the back when a thought suddenly occurred to me. Mothers Day was just around the corner and since my mom is frolicking around in Europe with some friends for a few weeks, i asked myself "What do I do?". We're all responsible for doing something for Mom on her day but what if she is out of the country? Is there a statute that stipulates we owe them nothing? This pseudo statute evoked me to ponder about my pregnant sister. In the eyes of many (or most) she already is a Mother, though some might argue otherwise. In my eyes and more importantly in the eyes of God she became a mother the day the baby was conceived. But let's not dwell on that day (lol).

I thought i might mess with my sister a little since it was so dangerously close to Mothers Day. My cousin and I left her comments on her Myspace Page saying not to expect a Mothers Day present unless the baby came before then. And for some reason i really believed that. This "expected due date" thing is a sham man because the very next morning she went into labor. As if on cue. It's not to suggest Myspace had anything to do with of course but she wasn't due until the 18th! My brother in law called at 5:30in the morning to inform me that my sister had broken her water and they'd already gone to the hospital. He was surprisingly very calm too given his tendency to be excitable. I actually thought it was just my alarm-clock at first until i flipped it open and saw his name. Annoyance was my reaction at first of course until the good word...

Later on i would learn that hardly anyone really has their baby on the expected due-date. It's more like an guesstimate really. And apparently being "In Labor" needn't mean they're having the baby right then and there. It just means the process has begun which evidently could take anywhere from a few minutes to more than a day (Good God!). Having learned this I didn't rush to the hospital right away. In fact i went to work that morning just so to save myself the anxiety of waiting (Coz' i could have worked from home). I bailed right after lunch though because i didn't want to miss my nephew being born. I wanted to be there...

I came to the hospital shortly after. I was prepared for the long haul too. I walked in there like i was an expectant father carrying and shouldering baby gear or something. Except it wasn't Baby Gear i was carrying around my shoulder but a Camera back-pack and a Lap Top equipped with Verizon's Nationwide Broadband wireless card. My sisters contractions had momentarily ceased when i came in her room so i had the chance to setup the wireless card and get on the internet. However as soon as i got comfortable in my seat and was browsing the internet, the nurse came in and asked me to vacate the room so she could examine my sister. I came back in shortly after and then was asked to leave again a few minutes later. And then shortly after i came back in and had started to browse the Internet again, she came back in again and announced that it was time to "Push". I went home...

Of course i could have waited for a few hours, i just couldn't see myself getting comfortable in the cramped waiting area. I mean it's not even a room it's more like a small vestibule filled with anxious faces that moved around constantly. So I have to thank my sister for picking a hospital five minutes away from home...

She gave birth to a very handsome healthy boy who already has a full set of hair by the way approximately 2 hours after i had gotten home. His hair is actually longer than mine and Adrian's combined right now. Anyway I took a quick shower and headed right back to the Hospital this time with probably the most eager face in the building. And no, no lap top this time, just my camera...

Posted by: Marc Gabay
Monday, May 12, 2008