I guess I never thought about exactly how it would happen. I was finishing up a few things at work around 7:30 Tuesday night. Rob and I had talked about what to have for dinner, and he said we should go see a movie and have popcorn for dinner because it could be our last chance for a while. He called moments later and said, ‘You have to come home now’. I thought he meant because the movie time was starting soon, but he said, ‘Meredith called…. it’s time!’.
Time both stopped and sped up immensely.
I didn’t finish what I was doing at work, nor do I even remember what I was doing. I sent a quick mail to everyone saying I was off to Iowa, set my out of office reply, and got the heck out of there. The Dad-to-Be was buzzing around the house but not really focusing. I reminded him that priority one was to get us a flight as I sped home from work. Our suitcases had been packed since the beginning of June, and the baby’s supplies were all laid out in the crib just waiting to be needed. We booked a flight that left four hours later. Our amazing dog/house sitter (thanks Gabe!) showed up in record time, we did all our last minute prep, gave Chelsea an extra snuggle and were on the road in an hour.
We wondered if we would make it before the birth. We calculated the time – it would be about 13 hours from the time she called, until we made it to Iowa. Not bad. But would it be fast enough? I was praying for an easy labor for Meredith – but hoped that somehow we would make it in time.
Everything went smoothly. We landed and texted Meredith who told us that the mid-wife thought we would definitely make it before the birth. We stopped for a quick egg mcmuffin and drove as fast as we could to Waterloo.
We arrived at the Hospital around noon and floated up to the third floor. The drugs had kicked in and Meredith was doing fine. The midwife thought we were looking at a late afternoon birth. We chatted a little, got to meet Meredith’s brothers and then left the room so nurses could check progress. The hospital had gotten the room next door set up for Rob and I so we waited in there. The nurse was soon at the door to tell us that things had progressed quickly and it was time to start pushing.
The next 45 minutes were the longest wait of our lives. We fell in love with Meredith’s brothers. They made us laugh as we paced nervously like the TV shows always show expectant fathers. They agreed to be our photographers and we handed each of them a camera. Meredith had given us an incredible gift by allowing us to be in the delivery room for the birth, and soon all four of us were invited back in.
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Meredith was amazing. First of all she looked beautiful. Not the sweaty screaming mess you expect to see on a woman in active labor. She looked calm and focused. And somehow her hair looked perfect. Time stopped and sped up again. There were so many people in the room. A few more pushes – and suddenly, at 1:07… there he was. Rob was invited to cut the umbilical cord, and we saw a perfect crying mess of a baby get cleaned up and checked out a bit. I wasn’t really looking at him – I was focused on Meredith. I had thought so many times about this incredible woman, and the gift of love she was giving to us – but it had never been more physically apparent than that moment. My first priority was her. I needed to know that she was okay. The midwife turned my attention to the clean-up crew and said, ‘You can go over there… that’s your baby!” Then he was handed to me to hold for the first time. I can’t put that moment into words. So many emotions but no words.
There he was. Captain Zane. 7 pounds 2 ounces and 20 inches long. Meredith picked out “Captain Zane” for his first name. Since it was only for a few days, she wanted him to have something fun. Captain was the perfect name for him as we tried to get him to tell us what he wanted his next name to be. An agonizing decision for me, who hates to make decisions that can only be made once. But finally, we realized that we knew his name all along: Brendan Casler Gianino.
The three days from then until now are a blur of happy firsts and time spent with our new family, Meredith, Linda, Patric and Isaac. Both sets of Grandparents came joyously spilling into Iowa, and today we checked out of the hospital, and into our temporary home at the Hampton Inn in Waterloo Iowa.
Such happy days. We are blessed beyond measure
So glad you have seen your hopes fulfilled.