The Birthday Boys......

October 19th - Bob's birthday - a peaceful day - nice dinner out with his wife and a couple of daughters - and then, things got exciting.

I had just climbed into bed at 8:30, ready to curl up with my latest Sandra Brown novel when Colleen called - crying. She'd been sick all day with the stomach flu. Never pleasant, but even worse when you're 8 1/2 months pregnant. And now, she's wondering if she might be in labor. For those of you who don't know, she has a c-section scheduled for Monday, November 3rd. I told her to call her doctor's office and that whoever was on call, would get right back to her. At 8:49, Jimmy called and said they were meeting Dr. Shaw at the hospital and that he'd call me as soon as they knew anything. I laid there for about two minutes, contemplating my next move - then I got up, got dressed, threw on some makeup and headed to Memorial Hospital.

Just as I stepped off the elevator at the Labor and Delivery area, I could hear her and I knew something was happening. I won't get into the gory details here, but suffice it to say - little Andrew was coming three weeks early and he was in one BIG rush. By the time we arrived in the "prep" room, Dr. Shaw was walking through the door. He took one look at her and said, "get her to OR". She was 9 centimeters dilated and for a few minutes he contemplated letting her deliver normally. They threw Jimmy and I a set of scrubs and whisked her off down the hall. By the time we walked through the doorway, they told us they were "knocking her out" and we were sent packing. We could hear her - and then, nothing. In just a couple of minutes, the nurse came out and told us that he was here and that both of them were doing fine.

Remember when I told you that Jimmy called at 8:49? Andrew Joseph was born at 9:39 - 50 minutes later. Jimmy told me that the entire scenario was like something you watch on an episode of ER, but this was happening to us.

I'm typing this now, on about 3 hours of sleep. She's already called me, wondering when I'm coming to the hospital. I think I hear a GIANT white chocolate mocha calling my name from Starbucks.

Anyway - here's a photo of the "Birthday Boys" - grandfather meeting grandson about 10:30 last night. Do I hear a collective "awwwwwwwwwwwww?"

Oh, and before you ask - "no, I wasn't thinking far enough ahead to take my camera to the hospital". Enter the picture, my BFF Mary Lou - who showed up just as Andrew made his appearance, camera and fully charged battery in hand. It's good to have friends!!