LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

 

What can happen when you Blink!

By Jeff Sesol

 

 

I remember like it was yesterday, May 29th, 1986, when my wife told me that her contractions had started.  I was a the typical father to be, every time she moved I was watching and waiting until finally at 8:30pm she said, I think it’s time, let’s go.  As we drove to the hospital, I remember a plethora of thought filtering in an out of my mind… would the delivery go ok? Would I be able to do all the right things during the delivery?  I hope I don’t pass out! Would I be a good Dad?  How would our lives change?

As we drove up to the hospital entrance, a wheel chair was available as they carted my wife in and began the preparations.  I parked the car and met her in the birthing room.  We were new to the whole thing, but a birthing room was this beautiful bedroom looking environment that transformed into a delivery room when it was time.  Now you need to understand my wife, when we went to the lemmas classes and they asked the question, “Where do you think you want to be on the drug scale when the contractions start and through delivery?”, they laid out 5 circles, at one end was drug me up I want to feel nothing, at the opposite end was I want nothing.  Now the majority of the women went to the middle circle, one went to the drug me up circle, and of course my wife went to the no drug circle.

Now I tell you this, because as many of you may know, when you’re delivering, they put a monitor on you that monitor’s the contractions.  I soon learned to watch the monitor and knew when my wife was beginning a contraction, I also quickly learned I didn’t need to remind her that they were coming as she was personally experiencing them and didn’t need me to remind her.  After about the third time I forgot to keep my mouth shut, she decided to share the pain.  You see, after all the lemmas classes, the breathing, the ice chips, the cold towels, etc. all she wanted was my hand.  She would grip my thumb and hold it as the pains grew and release as they subsided.  Well as I said, she decided to share the pain, on this particular contraction, she decided to turn her nails and dig them into my hand.  As the blood ran down my and from the nails cutting into the skin, I, as the smart husband didn’t say a word.  I just let her do whatever she needed to get through the contraction.  We went through this for about 4 hours (not bad considering the horror stories we have all heard.   Finally at 2:31am May 30, 1986 our first of what would eventually be (3) three daughters had been born.  I was in absolute awe when the doctor handed her to me and I looked at her in incredible disbelief that I was a father of this beautiful baby.  And as I held her in my arms, I blinked…

In less than 4 weeks I will be walking that same daughter down the aisle as she is getting married on July 18th, 2009.  I say to myself, wow, where did all the time go, it all happened so fast.   I blinked and she’s all grown up.  Although I couldn’t be more proud of her and we (my wife and I ) couldn’t be more happy with our future son-in-law, I just can’t help but ask myself some of the same questions.  Have I been a good Dad?  How will our lives change? Still asking the question, I hope I don’t pass out as I walk her down the aisle.  So my final thoughts  to everyone is don’t blink too long, sometimes in life you have to take a step back and make sure your not so busy in life that you miss the important things of life.

God Bless

Jeff Sesol