before pam shared a hospital room on the office, there was brooke and robin

the hospital stay. one of those bittersweet memories.

i never want to leave. there's something you leave behind when you leave the hospital. those first moments with your baby, the pampering (and prodding) of the nurses, the delightfulness of the first trips to the bathroom after you give birth and all the glamour that is involved with that.

anyway, i've always had a soft spot in my heart for those days spent in the hospital. in fact, i can't think about it too much or i cry. like last thursday, for instance. all the way home. . . crying. thinking about how i had just said goodbye to the fantasy-baby-hospital-life and said hello to reality.

and one of the reasons it was especially tough for me this time is because of the special coincidence that occurred during this hospital stay. i'm starting to cry just thinking about it now. great, now the screen is all blurry.

okay, i took a little break. i'm back.

anyway. . .

my good friend brooke and i had the same exact due date. crazy, right? we always joked about who would have their baby first and what a party it would be if we were in the hospital at the same time. the morning after i had sawyer, i get a text from brooke saying her water had just broken and that she was coming in. we exchanged lots and lots of texts, and i learned that her husband, brady had to stay home with their son, eli. (he had been sick with pneumonia and rsv and they didn't want to risk getting anyone else sick.) so after she checked in, i walked down the hall to pay a visit to my laboring friend.

brooke was a seven at that point and still talking and smiling. (i'm not sure if she's human.) so we visited a while and i told her i would stay with her if she wanted me to. i promised i wouldn't look, i would just sit in the corner and provide my presence.

so when the time was right, i left sawyer with the nurses and took my place in the scene of the birth of her second child. i stood behind her shoulder, texting her husband, and when the moment came, i held the phone out so he could be a part of the moment. it was such a privilege to be there. to be there for my friend when her husband could not.

the nurses couldn't believe that we were such good friends and at the hospital at the same time. in fact, they asked us to share a recovery room . . . which we gladly did. i cannot imagine sharing a room with just anyone, but with brooke, it was a total postpartum party. we watched the olympics, ate hospital food, commiserated over after-birth pains, and provided the nurses with lots of entertainment. (we're pretty funny.)

she was able to witness the drama of naming sawyer, and i got to witness brady's first visit with his new son.

i am so grateful for brooke. we have bonded over many things this past year and a half, sharing the "husbands-in-grad-school" experience. (not to mention the fact that our husbands are so alike, it scares us.) this was truly a unique, special experience for me and i'm glad that she is a part of such an important memory.

brooke, we'll always have cayuga medical center.

best picture ever.