Parents go in; baby comes out

Today, K and I toured the hospital where our little guy will finally come out of the womb and enter the real world. When we first arrived, we entered a conference room full of pregnant women and their partners. Honesty, it was a little weird being surrounded by all those almost babies. Some looked like they were going to give birth very soon while others looked like they are going to have a heavy, and hot, summer. I enjoyed the healthy mix of inter-ethnic couples and I also felt very young. Although K and I are average when it came to getting married, we seem to be on the younger end when it comes to giving birth in NYC. After a short chat, the herd of parents-to-be gathered themselves and moved to visit the floors where the magic will actually happen.

Now, when I did CPE last summer, I did not visit any of the maturity floors. In fact, I never actually got to witness the part of ministry where new life is celebrated, blessed, and enjoyed. We weren’t allow to visit up there unless specifically called. That always seemed a tad odd to me. So while we traveled through the various floors, from the triage center, the delivery room, past a nursery that was mostly empty (but with at least one kid wearing sun glasses and getting light shined on him), and into the smallest shared hospital room I’ve ever seen, besides awkwardly gawking at uncomfortable mothers in labor, I kept an eye out to see if there was anything that would stop a chaplain from being able to visit us. I asked our tour guide and she said it would not be a problem. I’m thinking that I might call a chaplain intern specifically just to take a moment off from their normal day to come and see what my little guy is gonna look like. They might be the only visitors we’ll actually bring into the room – but I think it might be something fun for them to see. I might even let them hold him! Heck, I’ll invite the whole gang up but if they’re gonna come up to our newborn party, I hope they bring chips and guacamole. Baby (and mom) are going to be hungry.