(Miranda and Zach: pre-baby, post epidural)Wednesday night (10/24) about 7:45, Miranda and I decided to take the dog for a walk. She'd been cooped up at home for too long, and we needed to walk off some of the Chinese buffet we had downed for dinner that night. We noticed how the full moon broke through the trees like a spotlight-- bright enough to cast a shadow. We notice my brother Josh drive by on his way to get a late dinner. And we talked about the things we needed to pack to get Miranda's bag ready should we need to get to the hospital early.
We decided to cut the walk short and get home. We needed to hang some art in the nursery that we had just picked up from the framer's that night, and we wanted to get to bed.
As we approached the house, we saw Josh pull in to the driveway. He wanted to check out the baby's room, so we all went in together and looked at the crib, the mobile, the basket of stuffed animals. Everything was coming together. As he left, Josh said "All you need now is the baby."
Ten minutes later-- 4 weeks before her due date-- Miranda's water broke as she read some mail in our kitchen.
We got to the hospital 30 minutes later, thinking we'd be coming back home. We were wrong. Instead, we were admitted, assigned a labor and delivery room, and started the long night of ice chips and breathing exercises. Since we didn't think we were staying, we were ill-prepared for our stay. Josh was heroic in going to take care of the dog and gather some needed items (clothes, Red Bull, Nerds, video camera) for us in the middle of what he tells us was a perfect fall night.
We'll spare you the details-- the short version is that eleven hours later, we had a son. Concerns that, being a near-term baby, he might be visiting the NICU instead of the recovery room were waylaid by his crying ("His lungs are working great" said the doctor upon his arrival), and Miranda, who performed with grace during the delivery, got to hold our boy for the first hour of his life.
