My Superbowl Weekend

My last weekend. Start with home internet (DSL) going out Friday - major disruption for both wife and me. Finish day, call tech support (ATT), figure out it's the modem. Go to Best Buy, get new modem. Connect. Not plug and play. Call tech support. Spend hours on phone with several techs who it seems were competence challenged. Give up. Our in-office IT guy will help, but has gaming tournament on Saturday - so I say, go, relax, see you Sunday. Go to office on Saturday for 3 hours just to do email work. Call Comcast and arrange for Tuesday visit by cable guy to change from ATT internet to cable internet. Take wife to lunch by waterfront and forget about internet. Next day is not only Superbowl Sunday, but stepdaughter's (prospective single Mom, with out full support, by choice) due date. Stepdaughter to stay at our house tonight. She has back ache. 12 midnight water breaks. Call OB, friend. Get set to go to hospital. OB calls, he is outside our front door, house call, just to be friendly. Go to hospital, wife up all night with laboring step-daughter. Anesthesia screws up, epidural becomes spinal, anesthesia to level of jaw. Baby comes well, 8# 2 oz., at 7:30 AM, in time for Superbowl. Stepdaughter with lots of bleeding, pain. Take sleepless wife to breakfast. IT guy comes to house, fixes internet. Go with wife back to hospital. Power steering on car goes out in parking lot. Baby still fine, step-daughter in good spirits, although bled a lot and on high pain meds for very tough labor. Tow truck comes. Go in tow truck to dealer. Saints narrowly behind, haven't seen game yet. Wife walks home from hospital to get car to pick me up at car dealer. Wife calls me, you wouldn't believe this. Her car blocked by step-daughter's car, but step-daughter's battery dead - probably left a light on. Car salesmen supervisor hears me on phone, no customers in showroom on Superbowl Sunday, asks salesman to drive me home and then go home himself. Salesman is thrilled, I get home. Triple A comes to charge step-daughter's battery. Everyone so thrilled by baby none of above matters. Baby very cute. Get to see second half of game, wonderful game. Call brother in Philadelphia to ask about snow, and how many storms of the century you can have in two months time. Brother amused, keeps asking if baby can be named after him. Wife sleeps for 12 hours. I go back to hospital to help step-daughter and hold baby for 2 hours. All still thrilled. Suggest football name for little girl, DeBrickashaw. Suggestion refused but laughed at. Next day name chosen, Lola. All still thrilled. Driving step-daughter's car while power steering fixed, Mini too small for me, but it's a car. Hear from dealer late on Monday, power steering module was recalled, so whole fix will be free. Baby still fine, hardly cries, step-daughter's spinal headache bad, but blood patch works, she can now sit up. Anesthesiologist makes two bedside visits in one day. OB pissed at him. Comcast guy comes at 6 PM, takes 2.5 hours to install new internet. Works slightly better than ATT DSL, hope for reliability, not have to talk to ATT tech support again. Package of cable, internet, and phone will be less than what we were paying for just internet, no more DSL charge, unlimited long distance. Pick up car at dealer Wednesday morning, they throw in car wash and full tank of gas, which was near empty. Feel that life is good. Step-daughter and Lola home from hospital, got own car back, wife resuscitated, wife so thrilled she can't stand it, step-daughter thrilled and amazed. Me, too. Turn back to AAP SOAPM listserve and find 140 items received.

From saga above, have omitted days in office, clinician meetings, meeting with new Administrator to counsel and direct, four perfect circumcisions, interview peds candidate. Who says we can't multi-task?

Budd Shenkin