Grandpas are Great

I'm beginning to wonder if this baby has special powers. First the incident with the deli man, now this.

The day before Thanksgiving, Grandma Mary called to tell us that my grandpa - Poppa Tom - was in the hospital. He was very sick and the doctors weren't sure what was wrong with him. By Thanksgiving morning, he had been admitted to the ICU. My family rushed through the beautiful Thanksgiving dinner my mom had prepared, and then my mom, Jonathan and I decided to make the two hour drive to Norfolk to see how Poppa was doing and hopefully tell him about the baby.

When we arrived at the hospital, we were greeted by three of my mom's sisters - Joan, Janet, and Jackie - and her brother, Marty. As we walked towards Poppa's room, my aunt Jackie pulled me aside and warned me that Poppa didn't really look like himself and that it might be hard to see him that way. I of course started crying right then and there (it's true what they say about how you cry at the drop of a hat when you're pregnant). Not knowing about the baby yet, my aunts and uncle seemed a bit shocked that I was so upset before even seeing my grandpa. Jackie jokingly apologized for saying anything, and we all got a little laugh out of it.

My mom and I went into Poppa's room to see him, but he was asleep. His blood pressure had been extremely low all day, and the nurses said he needed his rest. After listening to my grandma talk about his condition for a few mintues, I started to get emotional again and left his room. Jonathan met up with me down the hall and said one of those things that might have sounded like a good idea in his head, but as soon as it came out, it was 100% the wrong thing to say. With his hand on my shoulder he said, "I'm sorry, you're not going to get to tell him, are you?" I completely lost it then. I literally couldn't stop crying. Jonathan said he was sorry again and hugged me until I calmed down. I'm sure by this point everyone was wondering why in the world I was so upset.

A few minutes later, someone said that Poppa had woken up. His blood pressure had gone up 10 points and we could go in to talk to him if we wanted to. My aunts warned us that Poppa hadn't been very coherent when they talked to him earlier and that he might not make much sense if he did say anything. My mom and I went into his room together.

I suddenly got nervous, not wanting to lose my composure in front of him but knowing it was pretty much inevitable. I walked to the other side of the bed, tried to smile, and said, " Hi Poppa," my voice slightly quivering. He looked at me and mumbled something I couldn't understand.

I glanced at my mom and she whispered to me, "Tell him."

I shook my head and mouthed, "I can't."

"It's ok. Tell him."

I looked at him again and as I tried to calm myself down enough to tell him, he looked right at me and said, "You're going to have a baby."

"What?! Yes!" I was stunned! Half giggling, half crying, I asked, "How did you know?"

He said, "I could tell by the smile on your face."

I just burst out laughing. I couldn't believe what had just happened. I went on to tell him that the baby - his first great-grandchild - was due in June. He said something in return, but he was no longer speaking coherently. It didn't matter though. For about 30 seconds, he was awake and aware and we were able to share one of the most precious moments of my life and possibly his.

My mom witnessed the whole thing, as did Jonathan and Grandma Mary, who were standing in the doorway. My grandma was absolutely thrilled and couldn't stop smiling. My aunts and uncle came up to me one by one, asking me if it was true and hugging me and laughing and saying, "No wonder you've been crying since you got here!"

Poppa fell asleep shortly afterwards. I suppose all that celebrating wore him out. He's still in the ICU. Please pray for him. I'd really like him to meet his first great-grandbaby. They have a pretty special bond already.