March 7, 2011
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Perfect Timing
So finally he is here – the little bundle of joy that we have been waiting for patiently and impatiently on and off for the last 9 months. Having had a million checks at the hospital over the last few months, we headed in on Thursday and the doc said “you’re having your baby tomorrow”.
This brought a reality check for both Joanne and me, and we realised this was the last night of freedom for us both. Joanne knew what she wanted, and that was night market food, so we headed out for a stinky tofu for me, and then drove to the Shi Lin night market for lots of different stuff for the wife. We had a chua bing, which was not too bad, but not as good as we have had in the past, and then Joanne decided on some other food, Taiwanese meaty specialities, which she was in the mood for.
We headed home, full and satisfied, with the waking realisation of what was going to happen within the next 24 hours or so. The fact that Lyndon was coming also brought up that other issue – would I be able to make it to collect the olds who were arriving the same day as the noodle?
We woke up together early on the Friday, and I made my early morning coffee, then showered and shaved, getting dressed up nicely in my Exeter shirt. After all, it was an historic moment, and it needed to be combined with the right attire. We then drove to the office to collect my laptop and let the guys in the office know that today was the day.
I got in, and the guy at front desk told me there was a vegetarian option for lunch.
“No need for it,” I explained. “I’m not here.”
“You’re not here?” he enquired.
“No – you can’t see me. I am really not here.”
Oh,” he said, obviously not understanding, “so where are you?”
“At the hospital,” I replied. Now he got it.
“Gong xi!”
After writing mails to the boss to let him know I was at the hospital and taking a few days paternity leave, we headed on to the freeway, and got to the car park in Taipei where we left the car, and walked to the Family Mart for snacks and drinks and stuff.
In to the hospital to register and check in, and luckily Joanne’s aunty who works in the hospital had made sure she got a room where she had some privacy for the countdown to Lyndon’s arrival. Alongside me, Joanne’s mother also came along, to be there for support. The day was long, and a little boring, but it gave me the opportunity to play a few games of Football Manager whilst Joanne watched some TV. The ten channels available in the room were all in Chinese, and no one was really in the mood for talking, too many thoughts about what was about to happen floating unspoken in everyone’s mind.
When mid afternoon came, and there was still no sign of Lyndon, I was told to watch one of the pieces of equipment to let Joanne know when she should expect a contraction, and as they were coming now every few minutes, and causing no minor distress to my wife, I was kept busy.
Evening then fell, and it looked as though Lyndon’s arrival would be later than expected, so I texted the olds to let them know they should expect to take a taxi in to town. They texted back that they were about to board in HK, and would call when they got in to Taiwan.
Finally though the doctor said he had seen enough, asked Joanne if she could do a couple more hours of this, and she said she did not have the energy. But at this time I did not know that! So in to the delivery room she and I went – your humble chronicler in some seriously sexy scrubs. She was hooked up to some machine and was told to push. 2 minutes later, out pops Lyndon. I was a little confused – it shouldn’t be this easy right? What I had not seen to that point was that they had cut open my wife, sticking a vacuum pump to my son’s head all in order to suck him out. Classy.
I watched as the boy was cleaned up, and as my wife was stitched up. That’s going to hurt when the anaesthetic wears off, I thought.
I was then led out of the delivery room, handed my son – so I gave him a cuddle – and then he was taken away from me for checking. The mother in law was able to take a quick photo of the little noodle, and as he was taken away from me, I asked if I had enough time to go to the airport. This brought a few weird looks until I explained that my parents were coming in. Sure, they said – plenty of time.
So off I headed to the airport, texting the olds to let them know I would be there, and that they were grandparents. By the time I got to the airport, they were at passport control, and a few minutes later they came out, and we all drove in to the city to the hospital to say hi to Joanne who was now on the 12th floor, the delivery room being on the 5th.
A quick hello was followed by a quick goodbye, and I took the olds back to the apartment, via the stinky tofu place because I was hungry again. I left the olds at home and went back to the hospital to look after Joanne. She was not able to walk so she needed my help every couple of hours to get to the maternity ward where she would be breast feeding Lyndon when he was hungry. And just like his father, that pretty much meant all the time.
I was also not allowed in to that part, as there were other women in there who might apparently feel distressed at a man being there. What am I going to do? Check out some other woman’s boobs when my wife has just given birth? Seriously? So whilst I was waiting for the wife, I was walking around, doing nothing, bored essentially. And tired.
And after taking her back to the ward, where she could sleep, I was in no comfortable state to get some shut eye myself, and so the sun rose and I was absolutely shattered. It was a day where I was not really able to do much, and I was tired and hungry. I went out looking for some food for Joanne, and also some breakfast for me, and ended up getting a coffee from Starcraps.
I got back to the hospital and shortly afterwards Lyndon was brought out to us, and it was awesome to see him alongside Joanne. She was suffering with the after effects of the birth, but still managed a fairly weak smile as she saw Lyndon.
I collected the olds who also got to see their grandson for the first time, and we spent the afternoon together talking, just relaxing as other people came to visit – Joanne’s parents, grandmother, sisters, aunt and cousin.
I had told Joanne that there was no way I could endure a second night without sleep, and so she asked her mother to come back in the evening to take over the night shift. At around 8 or 8:30 I took the olds for dinner at Café India, and then we headed back home.
The next morning I dropped the olds at the Flower Show and then drove up to the hospital to see the wife and noodle, the olds coming in a little later when I was going to head over to football. Just because my son had arrived did not mean that I was going to miss this important game!
After the match I returned to the hospital with Clovis, buying pizza for the olds, and bringing back one of the beers I had bought for the team so the old man could also have a quick celebratory beer, and then took the olds back home once more, dropping off Clovis as well, and then returned to the hospital, this time with my bed cover so I could at least try to get some sleep. It worked.
Spending the night with my wife and son in the same room was emotional – almost impossible to describe in words. I got a couple of hours sleep, although Lyndon did not allow much as he was hungry a lot of the time. Monday morning arrived though and I had to get the olds to the airport so I headed out of hospital with my bed cover, picked up the car, and drove home. Picked up the olds, in to the elevator and down to the 1st floor, where the elevator didn’t quite finish, breaking down about 150 cm before reaching the 1st floor. After a little bit of negotiation with the security guard, who told me the mechanic would be there in 20 minutes, my reply being that I don’t have 20 minutes due to a prior engagement at the airport, I managed to pry open the doors, and jump to safety, helping the olds get down.
And then we drove to the airport, the whistle stop tour for my olds over as they headed back to the UK, and I went to collect the wife from the hospital to take her to the clinic. A little paperwork was sorted out, and I was able to take my son, my wife and her mother to the place where Joanne and Lyndon will be looked after for the next 4 weeks.
I am so proud of Joanne for what she has gone through – like her husband, she seems to be allergic to pain, but despite this, she hardly complained and very often had a smile on her face. That is no real surprise though – Lyndon is already making us extremely happy (if not tired) parents.
