The Writer

The writer having become a little frustrated mostly because of his inexperience, finally had gone to the head nurse and requested to be in the delivery room during the birth of a child.

  He was in the father's waiting room when the head nurse came and called him out to converse about the conditions to be met if allowed to witness a live birth.

  As she laid out his requirements his knees almost buckled. His emotions were running wild as he tried to envision what was going to happen next.

  Then she told him of the rules the parents had set and what the hospital required him to follow or he would be asked to leave the room;

  He couldn't take pictures of the actual birth, he had to stay back out of the way, he had to dress in hospital garb, and finally he had to write up a personal history of how the birth came about, and post a picture of the newborn in the paper.

  He quickly agreed to all of rules before him even though all the paper stuff had to be cleared by the editor.

  Moments later the head nurse gruffly told him to get down to the delivery room for they would be starting soon. He almost ran down the long hallway and entered the room where the birth would occur.

  He was amazed at how well the room was lit. As he gazed around the surroundings he saw the center piece which was a table with stirrups and he was surprised at how narrow it was.

  He thought to himself, “I hope she doesn't fall off.

  So, there he stood with note book in hand, ready for the action to start when a woman quickly turned and handed him a stack of hospital garb and said, “Strip to your undies and put on these clothes,” and just as quick she returned back to what she had to do to get ready.

  To say he was nonplussed was putting it mildly! He couldn't tell if the nurse was old or young for all that was showing were her eyes, and her voice was muffled by the mask she wore. The same applied to the doctor and the two other aides.

  After what seemed to be several minutes (though it was only a few seconds) he composed himself and meekly asked, "Do I take off my shoes also?" To which the nurse answered, “No, just put these booties over them.”

  Even though he was somewhat embarrassed he turned to the wall and removed his pants and since he didn't wear underwear it didn't take long to put on the clothes she had given him.

  His waist was about 28 inches and the hospital pants were for a 44 inch waist so he pulled hard on the draw strings, wrapped them around himself and tied them in front.

  The rest went easy, including the hat, booties and the mask. There he stood, looking almost like a doctor, waiting and then the door was flung open and the time had come.

  Chapter 4 The Moment of Truth