Traci began having stronger contractions on July 3 and by late afternoon we decided to head to the hospital. As soon as we got there, they hooked Traci up to the nifty machines and began monitoring Baby Binyamin. It was helpful to see when Traci was experiencing a contraction on the monitor screen and be able to help her by distracting her attention. At one point the readings went off charts as I began to proof-read out loud the post "Patience" to Traci before posting it online. She began to shed tears at the realization that our kid will grow up fast and then began laughing hysterically when I accidentally wrote, "the baby is jiggle to come." The Nurse actually came in to check on her.
We felt rather pampered with the pretty view of the wild flowers and sunset just outside the room we were at. The room had a television and radio so we brought a dvd called "Too Cute Puppies" to help distract Traci of the pain. I was surprised at Traci when the nurse asked her to rate her pain level on a scale from 0-10 (ten being the highest), and Traci saying 8 with a smile on her face. Maybe it was the puppies on the tv that made her smile. The room had a jacuzzi and Traci wanted to take advantage of it, although the contractions became stronger by then and she only lasted about 15 minutes in the jacuzzi. When she stepped out Traci mentioned she felt like pushing so I ran down the hallway to the doctor and said, "My wife wants to push!" I wasn't even done with my five word sentence before I was running back to the room.
Traci had just finished drying and settling herself on the bed when I looked at the clock and noticed we were 30 minutes away from the 4th of July. I looked at the Traci and said, "Just remember, this will all be over before you know it." I turned around to see the doctor and nurses entering the room and within seconds had Traci hooked up to the monitor once again. Since I have been known to get woozy at any medical procedures, the nurse handed me a chair and mentioned to stay beside Traci. It was at that point that my heart fell to the floor as I sat there helplessly at the sight of Traci experiencing the tremendous amount of pain. Yet eleven minutes later we heard the first cries of my son as we both joined him from the joy of seeing and hearing him for the first time.
We didn't sleep much that night from the excitement of being parents. July 4th was rather busy trying to entertain family and friends as everyone tried to get a glimpse of the new family member. That evening was the first year we both enjoyed the fireworks from inside a building. Unfortunately our stay at the hospital was prolonged since little Binyamin had lost nine percent of his body weight and wasn't regaining it back. We ended up staying at the hospital till Sunday but were quite grateful of all the knowledge and help we received from the staff.
As Traci and I began packing up our belongings to leave the hospital, we both were overwhelmed with a feeling of bitter happiness. In one hand we were happy to finally leave the hospital and begin this great journey yet in the other hand this hospital visit was amazingly extraordinary. The days spent at the hospital felt surreal, it felt unreal as if though I was dreaming. I didn't want the great moments to end even though I knew it only got better from there on. Regardless we had to leave because the hospital stays are not free, so I packed up the car and gave Binyamin his first car ride in the 1957 Chevy... The same car that brought me home 30 years ago.
