On Making and Entrance....

I met a little boy the other night. He was one minute old when I met him. What stood out to me, was how he already had mastered the art of a Grand Entry.

The night wasn't so busy. We had one birth, and the mommy and baby were well, stable, and in the hands of a capable midwife. We were sitting around the midwife lounge area, occupying ourselves in various ways, when suddenly we heard it.


Beeeep! Beep beep BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!


Immediately four midwives jumped to their feet and ran out the door, grabbing various things on our way out. As the first out the door, I was putting on gloves, ready for anything. The taxi doors opened as I ran out the gate, and out piled three kids, one husband, a taxi driver, and one Lola (grandmother). I was a bit taken aback, because I couldn't imagine anyone else could've even fit in the taxi, but as I jerked open the back door, I was met by the frightened face of the mother and her sister, and the shocked first cry of the tiny baby lying on the seat.

Baby out, crying!
 

I'm trying to communicate our situation to the midwives behind me. Someone hands me a blanket, and I pick up the brand new little man, wiping his face and making sure he's ok. Another midwife pokes her head in the door from the other side, and in the dim light filtering out from our clinic windows we are trying to clamp and cut the umbilical cord and make sure the mother isn't bleeding too much. The guard shows up behind me with a wheelchair for the mother.

I feel like a celebrity.

As I walk back into the clinic I pass the awe-filled faces of three older siblings, and auntie, a grandmother, a father, and a traumatized taxi driver. I turn the little guy in my arms and tell the little kids to say 'hello' to their new brother. The poor taxi driver is standing there, a mixture of relief and bewilderment on his face as he surveys the mess that covers his back seat.

Bless his heart.


At post-partum appointments, little Patrick's older brother, Adrian, came to help mommy take care of him. He was so proud of his new little brother. He looked at me in wonder as I put the stethoscope in his ears, and let him listen to the heartbeat of the little guy. Such a proud little man, looking out for his mother and little brother. 

Practicing to be a good daddy.


Baby and mother turn out to be just fine. They didn't have any prenatal care with us, and I honestly think the taxi driver just drove them to the first place he knew of that could catch babies. The little guy continues to thrive. I'm not sure, he may have a future in performance... Because if nothing else,

He knows how to make a dramatic entrance.