If you are looking for an eventful, suspenseful, full of drama and excitement childbirth story…this ain’t it. While the months and years leading up to had many twists and turns, the delivery went as smoothly as a late-night drive on a California freeway.
Charlotte had an expected due date of February 17. On the weekend of January 29th, we considered taking a mini vacation, Joyce to Las Vegas and me to Lake Arrowhead, but there were a few tasks we needed to complete and I was looking forward to the next weekend, after the monthly financial close, to truly unwind and relax – my first relaxing, do-nothing weekend in two months. Instead of weekend excursions, Joyce and I settled for a trip to buybuy Baby, where we bought bought, baby! From bottle sterilizers to changing pads to diaper cans to several different bottle types, we filled the shopping cart.
Nothing going to bed on Tuesday, February 1, led me to believe that we’d be waking up a few hours later and driving to the hospital. I informed Cherrie that I had just sent our last “rent” payment and after a long day went to bed around nine, earlier than usual. Charlotte’s intuition must have kicked in and she knew that at this point there were no open items, no tasks left on the checklist before her birth. That for the next two weeks we’d just be sitting around, doing nothing, checking on Cherrie, and waiting. Charlotte indicated no need to wait. I’m ready.
Around 11:15, Scott knocked on our bedroom door informing us that it was time to go. My internal clock thought it was around 6am and that he was either driving to up Mom Salud or that Joyce had arranged for a friend to drive her to Vegas. Scott said that Cherrie was dressed and ready to go. Sophia and Samantha were packing their bags to spend the rest of the night at a friend’s house around the corner. It finally dawned on me that we driving to the hospital.
We may have purchased half the stock in the San Bernardino buybuy Baby but we didn’t pack anything into an overnight bag. Joyce gathered up the essentials, or at least what we thought were the essentials at the time, and stuffed them in a travel bag. I scooped up Annie, helped Cherrie into the car, and we were on our way.
I mentioned at the beginning that this story would be rather boring and contain no drama. The extent of our drama was limited to entering the 210. For the past several weeks, construction crews had been working to widen the 210 from two to three lanes. It caused a slight panic when we reached the 210 South on ramp and saw it was closed. Both Google and Apple maps were directing us to take the 210 North, then pick up the fifteen. This panic added less than five minutes to our drive time.
Los Angeles freeways are a breeze at midnight. The daytime thirty-mile drive that could take anywhere from forty-five minutes to an hour-and-a-half takes less than thirty minutes. We left Scott and Cherrie’s at 11:30, we were at the hospital a little before midnight. For reasons I wasn’t totally clear on, Cherrie needed to wait for Scott to arrive before being admitted. Joyce had to show her COVID-19 vaccination certificate (which never occurred to me that we’d need to bring but wow, fortunately Joyce had that on hand) and take a rapid COVID test (which I wasn’t sure if she’d pass). Around 12:30 Joyce received the all-clear and raced through the hospital to join Cherrie in the maternity ward.
The COVID protocols that prevented Scott and me from entering the hospital changed the calculus on how and where to wait. I figured we’d wait about an hour or so before heading home. We waited outside, sitting on large concrete rectangular “beams” which on a cold, forty-five-degree night, only made my body temperature drop quicker. After thirty minutes, with both Annie and I shivering, we decided to sit in Scott’s truck for a few minutes. Ten minutes later, Joyce video called and I saw Charlotte for the first time.
February 2, 2022. 2.2.2.2. An easy birthday to remember.
Charlotte had an expected due date of February 17. On the weekend of January 29th, we considered taking a mini vacation, Joyce to Las Vegas and me to Lake Arrowhead, but there were a few tasks we needed to complete and I was looking forward to the next weekend, after the monthly financial close, to truly unwind and relax – my first relaxing, do-nothing weekend in two months. Instead of weekend excursions, Joyce and I settled for a trip to buybuy Baby, where we bought bought, baby! From bottle sterilizers to changing pads to diaper cans to several different bottle types, we filled the shopping cart.
Nothing going to bed on Tuesday, February 1, led me to believe that we’d be waking up a few hours later and driving to the hospital. I informed Cherrie that I had just sent our last “rent” payment and after a long day went to bed around nine, earlier than usual. Charlotte’s intuition must have kicked in and she knew that at this point there were no open items, no tasks left on the checklist before her birth. That for the next two weeks we’d just be sitting around, doing nothing, checking on Cherrie, and waiting. Charlotte indicated no need to wait. I’m ready.
Around 11:15, Scott knocked on our bedroom door informing us that it was time to go. My internal clock thought it was around 6am and that he was either driving to up Mom Salud or that Joyce had arranged for a friend to drive her to Vegas. Scott said that Cherrie was dressed and ready to go. Sophia and Samantha were packing their bags to spend the rest of the night at a friend’s house around the corner. It finally dawned on me that we driving to the hospital.
We may have purchased half the stock in the San Bernardino buybuy Baby but we didn’t pack anything into an overnight bag. Joyce gathered up the essentials, or at least what we thought were the essentials at the time, and stuffed them in a travel bag. I scooped up Annie, helped Cherrie into the car, and we were on our way.
I mentioned at the beginning that this story would be rather boring and contain no drama. The extent of our drama was limited to entering the 210. For the past several weeks, construction crews had been working to widen the 210 from two to three lanes. It caused a slight panic when we reached the 210 South on ramp and saw it was closed. Both Google and Apple maps were directing us to take the 210 North, then pick up the fifteen. This panic added less than five minutes to our drive time.
Los Angeles freeways are a breeze at midnight. The daytime thirty-mile drive that could take anywhere from forty-five minutes to an hour-and-a-half takes less than thirty minutes. We left Scott and Cherrie’s at 11:30, we were at the hospital a little before midnight. For reasons I wasn’t totally clear on, Cherrie needed to wait for Scott to arrive before being admitted. Joyce had to show her COVID-19 vaccination certificate (which never occurred to me that we’d need to bring but wow, fortunately Joyce had that on hand) and take a rapid COVID test (which I wasn’t sure if she’d pass). Around 12:30 Joyce received the all-clear and raced through the hospital to join Cherrie in the maternity ward.
The COVID protocols that prevented Scott and me from entering the hospital changed the calculus on how and where to wait. I figured we’d wait about an hour or so before heading home. We waited outside, sitting on large concrete rectangular “beams” which on a cold, forty-five-degree night, only made my body temperature drop quicker. After thirty minutes, with both Annie and I shivering, we decided to sit in Scott’s truck for a few minutes. Ten minutes later, Joyce video called and I saw Charlotte for the first time.
February 2, 2022. 2.2.2.2. An easy birthday to remember.
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I drove back to Scott and Cherrie’s. I was wide awake and realized that I should take advantage of the time, so I opened my laptop and began closing out a few open items for January month-end close.
I told Joyce to not post any images or news on social media so that Lola and Papa could hear from us about Charlotte’s birth. We texted them images of their first granddaughter. I expected an early, 6am or so congratulations phone call, I began receiving messages from relatives, finally Lola and Papa called and we discussed how wonderful it was to finally have Charlotte in our lives.
The next forty-two hours were the longest hours of my life (I say that as someone who spent twelve hours overnight in an Indian train station). I was relatively productive on Wednesday preparing for Charlotte. I set up the car seat and practiced installing and removing it. That evening I drove down to the hospital and picked up Thai food on the way. A nurse met me at the hospital entrance, I handed off the takeout, and returned to Highland.
Joyce sent photos and videos.
I told Joyce to not post any images or news on social media so that Lola and Papa could hear from us about Charlotte’s birth. We texted them images of their first granddaughter. I expected an early, 6am or so congratulations phone call, I began receiving messages from relatives, finally Lola and Papa called and we discussed how wonderful it was to finally have Charlotte in our lives.
The next forty-two hours were the longest hours of my life (I say that as someone who spent twelve hours overnight in an Indian train station). I was relatively productive on Wednesday preparing for Charlotte. I set up the car seat and practiced installing and removing it. That evening I drove down to the hospital and picked up Thai food on the way. A nurse met me at the hospital entrance, I handed off the takeout, and returned to Highland.
Joyce sent photos and videos.
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On Thursday, I took off work around eleven and drove to the hospital, expecting Cherrie to be discharged shortly after noon. Noon passed and no discharge. I went to a hamburger stand for lunch. One o'clock passed. Two passed. No news. Finally around three the hospital called and said we needed to work on a payment plan. This was a conversation I was dreading but three weeks earlier I had confirmed with Kaiser that since Cherrie was a relative and not being compensated for the surrogacy services that her insurance covered the delivery. There was some back and forth. I mentioned that I spoke with a woman at Kaiser’s Fontana location, the person at Kaiser’s Riverside location knew that person, gave them a call, and all that was payable was the $500 co-pay. Huge sigh of relief. We had finally crossed the finish line. Or not. Four o’clock. Five. Six.
Finally, at 6:30 Cherrie was discharged. Cherrie and Joyce had been in the hospital so long that there wasn’t much of a greeting when I pulled up in front of the hospital. We secured Charlotte in her car seat. We reached home around 7:15. As I carried the car seat into the house, I looked at Charlotte and said “We are going to have some fun. You are very lucky and so are we to have you in our life.”
Finally, at 6:30 Cherrie was discharged. Cherrie and Joyce had been in the hospital so long that there wasn’t much of a greeting when I pulled up in front of the hospital. We secured Charlotte in her car seat. We reached home around 7:15. As I carried the car seat into the house, I looked at Charlotte and said “We are going to have some fun. You are very lucky and so are we to have you in our life.”
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