My bags were packed and ready to go. And away I was going. We had a nice and early 0300 wake up for a 0445 formation. Put the bags on a truck and then just a few minutes to say good bye. I kept thinking why can’t Maria go into labor now so that I can stay home for another month and meet our baby. But that was just not the way it was to happen. But almost. After saying goodbye we sat in the THA (Terminal Holding Area) for about 4 hours and then finally got to board the plane. And then wait again. Another hour sitting on the ground prior to take off.
And then finally… here we goooooooooooo!
The flight to JFK was uneventful. I ended up with a set of seats to myself. We had so many bags that they had to put some on the plane so I was sitting next to a window seat that had a ruck sack on it. Or on the floor in front of the seat that is. It was nice not to have to sit next to anyone for the flight, but part of the ruck frame was sticking me in the leg the whole time. I even ended up with a bruise about the size of a tennis ball due to it.
As soon as we landed in JFK I turned my phone on to give Maria a call and a txt msg pops up from her. “Please don’t be mad…my water broke…sorry.” It was time stamped 55 min after we took off. If we would have been delayed another hour I would have been able to be there for the birth of my first child. Damn what timing she had. I called her and was able to talk to her a little. She was hurting a bit so a conversation was not going to happen. I called my parents and told them it was coming and then we were in the air again. Really if felt like we were on the ground for about 10 min when really we sat there for almost 4 hours. But we never go to get off of the plane. The busses that we going to take us from the terminal never arrived until it was too late.
And off to Germany we go.
That had to be the longest flight in my life. Not being able to be there and not knowing what was going on. We landed in Germany got a bus ride to the airport and I literally knocked 3 people out of my way running to the phone to call Maria. She answered and told me that she was okay and resting. The Doc had her on pain meds but she was doing fine. Her mom was outside taking a breather. “Oh and the baby is trying to nurse.” Wait a tic. We are 2 min into the conversation and you now think to tell me that the baby has been born? Gee that took long enough. So yes, after 15 hours of labor Samantha Rose was born. She was born at 0312 on the 3rd of January. She was 5 pounds 10 oz 19 ¼ inches with lots of dark hair and 3.5 weeks early.
And again we fly on. This time landing in Kuwait. But that will come later.
Back to the sand.
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