Happy Birthday, Jeffrey!!

Happy Birthday, Son!

It is hard to imagine how quickly you have grown up. I still remember the day you were born 24 years ago like it was yesterday. I was actually telling the story to the office staff here the other day. I don't know if you've ever heard the story, so I will tell it to you now...

Mom's contractions were about 5 minutes apart when we decided we'd better head to the Princeton Medical Center to have her deliver you. Up until that night, you were a pretty normal pregnancy...you made Mom sick for 6 months, she got huge carrying you, and she was so skinny we could see your arms and legs move under her belly skin. It was like an alien was in her! But we argued over baby names. She wanted Timothy, and I wanted Fraser...that story you have heard.

When we got to the hospital, there was only one other couple giving birth in that whole maternity ward...we thought it was weird that they put us right across the hall from the other couple. We got Mom all tucked into the bed...our room had no TV, so I had to keep myself entertained by watching her monitor...I would tell her when I thought a contraction was coming...it is like a huge muscle cramp. She snapped at me that she was experiencing them personally and didn't need to know when they were coming or how big they were! That is the scientist in me, watching the data and making observations...haha. About an hour later we started hearing awful screams of agony coming from the other room. The poor birth mother was screaming at the top of her lungs. She must have been right in the middle of delivering her baby. Mom was getting terrified, and our nurses tried to calm her down. They closed our door, but you could still hear the blood-curdling yells. I guess the other father had had enough, and he yelled at his wife, "Dolores, shut up already!" I was dying to see who they were.

Your delivery was without too much drama, mostly pain endured by Mom, but when you popped out, you were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen! You had hair, your scrunched up face was all puffy from Mom pushing you out, and you were long. You were also covered in white, waxy stuff that we wiped off of you. I think it is to keep your skin from getting water logged sitting in Amniotic fluid for 9 months. After we wiped you off, you turned pink, and started to cry. Mom nursed you right away. She was tired from the labor, but she was smiling and crying at the same time. I got to weigh you, and wash you and then put you under the warming table. Mom slept, and I watched as they did all the testing they do on newborns...making sure you were a normal human baby. You passed all your tests, except your bilirubin count was a little high, meaning your liver function hadn't kicked in. I went home late that evening...poor Clipper was waiting for me. He hadn't been out all day, so I put him out. Mom gave me a little stocking hat that you wore to let him sniff it so he would recognize you when you came home later.

I went in early the next morning to check on you and Mom. I finally got to see Dolores and her husband! They were standing outside the nursery looking in on their baby through the glass (I think they named him Christopher, which was one of Mom's short list names for you). I was shocked to see Dolores...she was about 6'3" and weighed in at about 280. Her husband was my height and maybe 170 lbs. She was in a pink floral night gown and robe, but she was wearing lumberjack boots! She looked like a hillbilly! I kept wondering where they had come from because we were in Princeton, NJ. Then I saw why she was screaming during delivery. Her baby looked like a 2-year old! He was 15-1/2 lbs, and 28 inches long! The nurse attending to Mom said that this was her second baby. Her first one had the record for Princeton Medical Center...17 lbs and some ounces! Her kid barely fit in the bassinet in the nursery. You weren't a midget at nearly 9 lbs, but next to him, you looked like a preemie. Because there was already a "Christopher" in the nursery, Mom refused to name you that. She also didn't think you looked like a Timothy, so we named you, Jeffrey. Your middle name comes from your Grandpa Chuck. That is a tradition Mom and I started. Good thing we only have two kids, cause we ran out of Grandpas!

I think we took you home after the second night because your bilirubin count was high enough. They had a special meal for us that day after Valentine's Day because we missed celebrating while Mom delivered you. We had a steak and lobster dinner up in a private dining area. It was nice. We had good insurance back then, I think your whole hospital bill was about $6. I think Mom ordered a TV for her room, which cost $3 per day on our plan, or a phone in her room, I can't remember. Everything else was covered. I might have that figure wrong, but it was affordable, whatever the cost was. Ask Mom, I am sure she still has that hospital bill in her files...haha.

Our lives have never been the same. These 24 years have sped by. I can hardly believe that you are on your own, living in a different city, working, paying your own bills, etc. It is mind-numbing to think about it, but it happens to all of us. I have more appreciation for my parents and Mom's parents and what they went through raising and then letting us go. Just as I hope one day you will have an appreciation for us because you will be going through the same emotions as you see your kids grow up. That is a day I am looking forward to...when you become a Dad.

You are still my baby boy, and I have so many special memories of you growing up. I wish I could take you back to show you how cute and smart you really were. You had the best belly laugh as a kid. And boy, were you a talker!

Love,

Dad