Hotel to Hallway

Just as we laid our heads down to dream of becoming a family, as that first bit of sleepy dust weighed upon our eyelids - the buzz of a text message, like three cherries in a row at the slots; charging us to awake.


Awoken to new possibilities and a new future, we mustered to attention.


Our birth mom is starting to have contractions. They are far apart and while she insists that we rest and wait; it is hard to sleep - to dream seems passé when reality has shaken us awake.


We showered, dressed and repacked... to be truly ready to go.


We will use the word "ready" so many times. And I'm sure we will use it countless times today. While we may never be fully ready for everything, we welcome the challenge.


Tick-tock we watch the clock.
Again the phone calls us to action. After a few laps around the hotel room we grab our keys and head to the car.


I make the mistake of taking side streets at 2am, it was in my mental route plan, which of course seemed better in theory than practice. It was like walking when we needed to run!


Without a ticket or panic... we arrived at the hospital; our birth mother is already here; she took a cab. She is independent and strong. Strong enough inside to text us through the pain. Amazing.




After a security escort we make it to the maternity ward.





As difficult as this may be for us, we can't possibly presume to understand how hard this moment; these minutes and possible hours will be for our birth mother.


She has invited us in to this moment. This very personal moment to share it with us and help insure that it is ours too.








Understandably, our birth mother wants to preserve some privacy. So I stay in the hallway, just feet from her room; listening for signs. Jumping at every beep and alarm. I inch forward in my seat as I watch nurses and a cart enter her room. Luckily my wife is in there with her.


I'm getting the play-
by-play via text. "The epidural has been administered." In less than two hours she went from 0cm to 7cm dilated. Our birth mom is in a lot of pain.


Oh why did we have to watch those web videos on childbirth - what's going on in there; what can I do to help?


I know she is strong, she is mighty. But I want to help. Reflecting on the moment is all I can do for now.


Outside there are tourists and regulars rolling dice, placing bets, calling, holding and even folding. They are dropping coins into slots and hoping to strike it big. The neon, smoke, cheers and jeers fill the Strip.





Here it is quiet in the hallway. The lights are soft, air is clean and the only bells here announce that a baby is about to be born.


The excitement is in our heads and hearts. The thrill is in who is to come. We aren't relying on luck or chance. Tonight we bet on our birth mother and know it is just a matter of when.


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