Our new grandbaby was coming. His birth was planned as a Cesarean section to take place on Friday, October 24th, 2014. So, our granddaughters arrived at our house on Thursday night so that Grandmom and Grandpop could babysit. It was a good visit. The girls were well behaved, and Bellea the granddog just blended in like any other member of the family.
The funniest moments of the weekend came from our little Jenna, who is two years old. She calls my wife Jackie Grandmom, and me Joe. I walked into the room where she was playing and she smiled and said, "Whatcha doin', Joe?"
She colored in her coloring book and held up her book and said, "Joe...look!"
I put my hands over my eyes and said, "Peek-a-boo!", to which she replied, "I see you, Joe!"
It could be that she hears her Grandmom call me Joe. It could be that her big sister, Jackie, calls me Grandpa Joe.
It makes me laugh. I pointed to myself and said "Grandpop."
She pointed to herself and said, "Grandpop!"
I said, "No, silly!" I pointed to her and said, "Jenna!"
She said, "Jenna!"
I pointed to myself and said, "Grandpop!" and she looked at her Grandmom and said, "Grandpop!"
I am resigned to the fact that at this point in her life I am Joe, and I treasure the smiles she brings to all of us.
When we got to the hospital waiting room with the girls, little Jackie, who is seven, was a little worried that she would have a new brother, and she REALLY wanted another sister! Her Grandmom and I assured her that as soon as she saw that baby for the first time, she would fall in love with it, even if it was a boy. As you can see by the photo, we were right!
Jeffrey weighed in at a healthy 10 pounds, 14 ounces!
Jackie, Jenna, and Bellea stayed with us until Monday, October 27th, and we went to the hospital every day to see Jeffrey, and to treasure the sight of our growing family.
*********************
On the 28th, the day after the three girls went back to their Mom and Dad and new brother, we made the trek to a different hospital for my wife's knee replacement surgery. It was a long day to say the least. We arrived at 8:30 and were taken to the Ambulatory Care Unit so she could get the IV's and monitors going. They would bring her into the operating room at 10:30...or so we thought. The doctor's schedule changed and, consequently, so did ours. The surgery didn't begin until after one in the afternoon.
While in the Family Waiting Room with the other concerned families, I did some crossword puzzles and caught up on the messaging of Jackie's progress to those that needed to know . A sign was hung on the wall of the room asking occupants of the room to refrain from talking on cell phones in that room as a courtesy to the families. I noticed upon looking at my phone that there was a voice mail that I hadn't listened to yet. I typed in my password, and when I hit the # symbol, I unwittingly hit the speaker button too. It was a message from my brother-in-law. My phone is perpetually loud. I've tried adjusting volumes, but it's never worked. Before I knew it, all the concerned families were treated to, "Hi Joe! It's Jim! I'm just checking up on how things are going....." Jim has a wonderful speaking voice. Everyone in the room thought so. They all looked at me as I fiddled with buttons trying to turn the speaker off. I closed the phone lid and we could still hear Jim's message. They smiled as if they already knew of the ignorant nature of my cellphone history. A teenage girl across the room began laughing at my antics and before long, the speaker was finally silenced. She was still laughing as I apologized for the ignorance.
The surgical ordeal, which should have culminated with Jackie being in her room in the Orthopedic Unit between 3 and 4 o'clock in the afternoon, ended with a rapid heartbeat and a room in the Telemetry Unit at 7:30 in the evening. That's right...the Telemetry Unit. The Telemetry Unit? I didn't have a clue what it was. I used word association and operations to keep the name in my brain so I could look it up when I got home. My game went something like this:
First, I connected with the Trim-A-Tree Department of Walmart,
Second, I subtracted the 'rim' and added the abbreviation for the name of the level of education in which I educate, 'elem': From Trim-a-tree to Telem-a-tree.
Next, I changed the 'a' to an 'e': From Telem-a-tree to Telem-e-tree.
Then, I subtracted the double 'e' from the end of the name and added 'y'. From Telem-e-tree to Telem-e-try.
Finally, I put them together and I got telemetry...it worked!
I remembered the name and Googled it. It's an area of a medical facility where things like heart rate and rhythm can be monitored electronically. Yup, that's where she was alright!
The poor little thing was so medicated that she couldn't keep her eyes open. She would wake up every so often and say to me, "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," I would answer as she shut her eyes once more.
A short time later she slowly repeated her apology. It happened again and again. Eyes open: "I'm sorry." Eyes closed again.
Finally, with the last "I'm sorry" being uttered, I replied with a smirk that ridiculous line from the film Love Story, "It's okay. Love means never having to say you're sorry." Well, those anesthesized eyes bulged and I heard, "Don't say that! That's one of the stupidest lines ever! No jury would ever convict me for anything I do to you for saying that!" I knew then that everything was going to be okay. She was already beginning to sound like her old self again! The pain and lethargy would be there, but only temporarily.
The next day, Jackie made admirable headway. The surgeon and therapists were ecstatic with her progress. Steps with a walker within hours, heart speeds and sounds getting under control, and that Don't tell me I have to use a commode attitude.
I decided to use my phone to send another update to the concerned ones. I typed in the word Jackie's, and instead pushing of the space key, I hit send. Before I could punch in the continuation of the great news, I got replies. Cousin Nancy's was Is everything alright? Friend Tara's was Jackie's what?! Jackie's what?! Alas, I've struck again. I punched in the rest of that message and sent it and all was right with the world once more.
Jackie's home now and getting stronger each day. The first couple of days were full of something she doesn't like: dependence. As the days have gone by, the dependence has begun to wane. There is pain. There are things she can't do by herself for safety reasons, but the independent gal I married is on her way back! The photo on the left was taken the day Jeffrey was born, and with my daughter-in-law Jessicca and Jackie both recovering from major surgery, the boy is growing by leaps and bounds without his Grandmom and Grandpop, but I have a strong feeling that it won't be long before there will be a reunion between Jeffrey and his Grandmom, and more times to treasure!
