The Mystery Baby

Some months ago (9 to be exact), my friend, Kari, found out that she was expecting.

And she REFUSED to find out the sex of the baby.

REFUSED.

I begged. I pleaded. I even tried to bribe her to find out.

Still she refused.

Stubborn.

Kari was totally convinced that it was a boy, and for about the first 7 months, I was positive it was a girl. But Kari was so damn sure it was a boy, everyone who thought it was a girl eventually gave in and came over to the boy side. (I told her that there was a simple, easy, painless way to settle all the disputes. FIND OUT. She still refused.)

Part of Kari's birth plan was that if she happened to go into labor while she was at work, I would be the one to drive her to the hospital. (And I selfishly wished for this too, so I could miss work.)

Well, this past Tuesday, my wish came true.

About noon, Kari called me and asked if I had lunch plans, because I might need to drive her to the hospital. I cancelled all plans and waited anxiously for her to tell me if we were going, or it was a false alarm. And what was Kari doing, you might ask? She was in a meeting. Yup, the woman is invincible. Her water has broken and she's still able to sit in a meeting and discuss things like nothing important has happened.

So, after her meeting, Kari called her doctor's office and they told her to go the hospital.

Needless to say, I was a wreck. Do we have everything? Quit trying to work, Kari, we're having a baby!

And Kari was totally calm.

I called Kari's husband, Don, to come to the hospital, and he was totally calm too. Hello! We're having a baby! And this was their first baby, by the way. (What kind of baby was still up in the air, and driving me crazy.) How they could be so calm, I'll never know.

So, Kari trusted me to be calm enough to drive her and her unborn child (boy? girl? WHO KNOWS?) to the hospital.

So, Don couldn't get there for a while, and I wasn't about to leave Kari alone, so I stayed with her. And watched them put in her IV (gross). We're pretty sure the nurses must have thought we were a lesbian couple (right on).

And when the nurse came in with the ultrasound machine to see if the baby's head was in the right place, I freely admit that I tried to bribe her to tell me what the sex of the baby was. (She said she couldn't tell, and that all she was able to see was whether the head was facing down. I think she was lying.)

They hooked Kari up to a machine to monitor the baby's heartbeat and her contractions. And when she had a contraction, I would say, "Did you feel that?!" And she would say, "No." It was fun for a while, but I'll bet Kari got sick of me asking her if she "felt that."

Seriously, she must be wonderwoman.

And at 11:02 pm, a new life came into this world.

In the form of . . . A GIRL! (I was right all along.)

Josephine Ryan Peck was born at 11:02 pm on March 2nd. 7lbs 2oz and 22.5 inches long. (Yes, a long baby, but keep in mind her parents met in Utah's Tall Club. Don is something like 7'6". I come up to his waist. Literally.)

I'm really grateful that Kari let me go to the hospital with her and be there for some of it. I've never been there when a person is actually about to give birth, so it was a totally new view for me.

Look at her feet!
And those long toes!

She's going to be dancer!

Either that or a basketball player.

Congratulations you guys!