Where were you 25 years ago today?

Most of you can't remember (or weren't even born then). But I remember well.

I have to go back to the night before, around 6 or 7pm. I think it was a Tuesday night, but I can't be sure. I do remember my wife and I were eating at Quincy's. She was already one day past her due date (our first) and three days away from when they said they would induce labor (my wife had some mild toxemia, mostly under control, but her blood pressure was rising).

We were standing in line to order our steaks when she turned to me and said she thought she was in labor. Being the sensitive husband I am, I said we should hurry and eat, so we didn't miss out on a steak. One mistake: she told her mother (the worry-wart) she thought she was in labor. More on that later.

Of course, we had to wait until her contractions were under 5 minutes apart. So, after dinner we headed home and began timing contractions. Rather than argue about when the last one was, I wrote down the time of each one. We began playing cards and doing other things to take her mind off of it and I'm still certain to this day that she missed a few contractions.

Also, several of my friends had recently gone through false alarms. Their wives' would say they were in labor and they would rush to the hospital only to be turned away. One co-worker went through this 3 nights in a row. I was convinced my wife would do this to me just out of spite.

Anyway, later in the night/morning, the contractions got within 5 minutes. Actually, they stuck at 6 minutes, then jumped to 4 minutes. Boy was I scared. She needed to give me more notice than that. So, at about 4am, we called the doctor, I emailed my co-workers and we headed to the hospital. I was still convinced we'd be back home later that morning. At the hospital, I was ushered into a waiting room while the doctor checked on her. About 15 minutes, later I approached a nurse and asked the status. I was told that they were going to prep her and get her to a room.

Innocent, and unknowing, I asked "Does that mean you're going to keep her?" Well, to make a long story short, within about 8 hours of hospital time, my wife gave birth to a little girl. Not so little, 8 lbs 15 + 1/2 ounces. So 25 years ago today, I greeted my little girl into our family. Happy Birthday Ashley. It's been a wonderful quarter century, looking forward to the next 25.

Oh, as for my mother-in-law the worrier. In the morning (while we were at the hospital delivering a baby) she tried to call us. Of course we didn't answer, so she called the hospital. All they would tell her was that she had been admitted, but no details. She called my coworkers. They told her what they knew, which was nothing. She called my coworkers several times. Finally, one suggested that she call the fathers' waiting room.

When she called the fathers' waiting room, a nice man put her on hold and went to find me. When he got back he told her he had spoken to me and I would call her as soon as it was over. She felt so much better. I never met the man and I certainly didn't speak to him, but I'm glad she felt better.

Happy Birthday Ashley!