Here comes Jess

Sunday evening, February fourth,
The calm before the storm
Our last moments of just the two of us
Before you were born
But we could sense a change coming
Something big about to start
Like the first ripples on the water
In the cup in Jurassic Park
Monday morning, six am,
And the first signs of contractions
Like a well-oiled baby machine
Together we spring into action
There’s a nursery to be finished
The front of our house to sweep
(Grand?)Parents to be phoned
And pizza for us to eat
I valet the car
(Only the best for my kid)
Chance my luck on a scratch card
And win seventy five quid
Then it’s back to the house
And on to stopwatch duty
They’re averaging five minutes apart
And the length is about fifty
By nine pm
It’s time to go in
So we drive to Kingston
Will you be a ‘her’ or a ‘him’?
We get to reception
But there’s a bit of a wait
It seems half of London’s
Having babies tonight
I’m sandwiched where I sit
As two labouring women puff
Like two steam trains
Ready for the off
Then through to the ward
And clearly you’re on the move
Your Mum is looking pained
But there’s not much I can do
At last around one
We move to a private room
I shift our backpacks in
And we make ourselves at home
It’s lovely and big
And warm and clean
(A huge improvement on the hotel rooms
We usually stay in)
Your Mum gets settled
I run my fingers through her hair
Which sort of helps, I think
But not as much as the gas and air
I’ll spare you all the details
But the next few hours were amazing
Needless to say there was lots
Of pushing and panting and wailing
Your Mum was extremely brave
In control, and dignified too
If it was me I’d have demanded drugs
And turned the air dark blue
Then sometime around six
The finishing line came into focus
And I remember getting very excited
I knew you would soon be with us
And when I first glimpsed your face
On Tuesday February 6th, 6:44
You looked so calm and collected
Like you’d done all this before
You had a shock of dark long hair
And beautifully rich smooth skin
And tiny pink little feet
And I’m sure I saw you grin
I felt a rush of happiness
As they weighed you at seven pound seven
And although I’m not a religious man
I could have sworn you were an angel fallen from heaven.