Still Day 1 @ hospital: Break on through to the other side

For reasons understandable and touchy-feely in nature, I am not going to use any stupid wisecracks here. I mean, I will try. :) We arrived at the hospital pretty happy and in high spirits. It helped that we had already seen the hospital, taken parenting classes that basically teach the dads that they will get shouted at or probably slapped on the day of the delivery - ha! the D-day! They kept us waiting for a short while, and I learnt a new word - Triage! Can you believe it that I did not know that word till now and just looked it up in my phone, and that I would never forget it now? So, in hospitalspeak, I was asked to wait in "Triage".

Then something extraordinary happened. A nurse came looking for me and my wife and said, "Follow me." It hit me hard. This walk we were about to take would end in a whole new human being, god willing. My wife followed the nurse and I followed my wife. I felt like a camera - an outsider trying to record everything while also trying to be aloof, trying not to let feelings overcome the moment.

It has been a while since we entered the room. All the machines, a nicely made bed, a couch, shower bunk, a few pieces of furniture are details of this moment. This is a special moment. I am taking a mental note to never forget how it feels right now. There are uncertainties - very real ones! There is only one thing that is certain. Our lives are going to change by unfathomable degrees.

I am going through the last nine months in my mind. I am trying to remember the journey we made. It all culminates in this room, in this moment. We are here. A baby is going to happen to us. This moment is full of uncertainties bar one - that life is never going to be the same! Even if the next two days go just as smooth as we want them to! God forbid if they don't! 

I am my wife are speaking with each other. Gently! She has just asked me to put a song on my laptop.