I have the honor and privilege to introduce you to Elle Maria Szerlip, our beautiful daughter who was born on May 31st at 5:09 PM.

Where do I even start? This is easily one of the most consequential months of either of our lives. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. May is a long month, and there’s a lot that happened before May 31st.

The month began quietly, with spring overtaking New York. May is one of the best months in the city, and we tried to get out as much as possible, even if Jenn was nine months pregnant. After years of trying, we finally got a reservation at Don Angie, one of the hardest restaurants to get into in the city, for lunch on May 4th. The one-Michelin-starred restaurant only seats 40, and we were fortunate to go on a beautiful Saturday morning. We started with the stuffed garlic flatbread and divine BBQ calamari. Jenn had cranberry juice, and I had their bloody mary. For our main course, we split the lasagna for two, by far their most popular dish, along with a side of their Japanese potatoes. I loved my first Bloody Mary so much I decided why not go for a second. Most of the time, these types of places aren’t worth the hype, but even after our lunch at Don Angie, I’ll still always keep an eye out to try and snag another reservation. After lunch, we grabbed a taxi to pick up some items at Crate and Barrel and do some shopping around SoHo before heading home.

The next day, we scored lottery tickets to go see The Great Gatsby (the musical) at the matinee showing. The tickets were for the center orchestra, which made it an even better deal. Unfortunately, both the show and the overly warm venue weren’t our favorites, so we left at intermission, something we don’t often do. The next week began, and Jenn had a few doctor appointments, one with her OB and one for her nonstress test at the hospital. For most of May, it felt like I was meeting her either in the UES or UWS for an appointment.

We did have an amazing arrival on May 11th. Ally and Tim welcomed their second child into the world, Theodore, who was born on May 11th. He’s a beautiful, healthy boy that we both can’t wait to meet. Both Teddy and Ally are doing well and were able to go home a few days later. We got to meet him on Facetime on May 12th, which also just happened to be Mother’s Day. Although we were a few weeks out from officially being parents, Frasier and I celebrated Jenn’s first Mother’s Day at home. I got Jenn an appointment at The Peninsula for a massage, we had a champagne-less brunch at home and watched Father of the Bride Part II.

A few days later, Jenn wrapped up most of her work and continued to have at least twice-weekly check-up appointments. Her OB is in the UWS, and her non-stress tests were on the UES, so either before, during, or after work, I would meet her at her appointments. The ones with the OB always seemed pointless, but most of our time at the non-stress tests tended to be “stressful.” Fortunately, even during the worst testing appointment, we went from the testing room to a triage room, where we were monitored for a couple of hours before being sent home. It was with all of these appointments that Jenn’s doctor advised her to get induced right around her due date. We were very tentatively scheduled for May 30th.

We tried our best over the next several weeks to stay as grounded as possible. It was hard not to just be overwhelmed with the fact that we were going to be parents any day now. We went out to eat as much as possible, going to El Fish Marisqueria, Il Buco, and Ci Siamo. We saw our last Broadway show of the season, Home, and spent the long Memorial Day weekend getting as much rest as possible. One of my favorite memories of the long weekend was going for a short walk along Riverside Park to Pier 97 which is just nearly complete. We sat and watched the sunset on the Hudson River; it was a beautiful spring evening, and a couple near us was playing music. It was one of those moments you just wanted to bottle up.

And then the long weekend ended. I picked up Frasier from Camp Canine where we put him over the weekend in case Elle decided to come early. We got the apartment ready, and Jenn even baked a Cherry pie to fully complete the nesting phase. We weren’t sure what the week was going to hold. We had not yet been officially scheduled for an induction and so we just waited. It wasn’t until Tuesday, May 28th that we noticed on our hospital’s app that Jenn had been scheduled for an induction on May 29th. Jenn immediately called and was told that she was indeed on the list, but the hospital was quite backed up from the long weekend so we had to wake up on the morning of May 29th to call at 3 AM and see if they’d let her in. We let everyone know that Elle was likely coming but weren’t sure if we’d get the appointment.

On the evening of May 28th, I took Frasier back to Camp Canine in case we got in the next day. As expected, when we called at 3 AM on May 29th, we were told that Jenn was on the list but that she should not come and that she would be called when her slot was up. It was hard to go back to sleep after the adrenaline of potentially going to the hospital was roused, but we managed. Jenn’s Dad took the news from the day prior, flew out immediately, and joined us in New York on the morning of the 29th. From there, we were in a holding pattern. That afternoon, we went to Jenn’s normal weekly OB appointment, where we were told that we should be prepared for a long wait for inductions, given the backlog from the holiday weekend, and that we could get a call that day up until the end of the weekend. Given the delay in the induction, the hospital did call Jenn and let her know they wanted her to come back to the hospital on May 30th for another non-stress test. I had a meeting that morning, and from there, we grabbed our bags and drove our own car at 9 AM over to the hospital just in case Elle decided to arrive, or they decided to induce. We went up for her non-stress test, and within twenty minutes, they told us they wanted to do additional monitoring on the delivery and triage floor, just like they had done the previous week. Our hearts began racing because we knew there was a good chance we weren’t leaving the hospital without a baby.

Jenn’s doctor was at the hospital that day and said that, given the tests, they had put Jenn higher on the list to be induced. This wasn’t a guarantee that they would get her in today, but that it was a possibility and that if we were patient, they would try to get us in. For the next 8+ hours we sat in the triage room, watched Friends and Modern Family, talked, and nervously awaited what was next. Jenn took a nap, I watched Back to the Future on my iPad, and we had McDonalds for lunch and Panda Express for dinner. One of my favorite memories of that long wait was when we decided to have Jenn walk up and down the halls. We ran into Jenn’s doctor, who was rooting her on and very happy to see her up and about. And then, at 5:30 PM, we were told that a spot had opened up and that the induction was happening.

Of course, all of the emotions came up then, and the process began in earnest. We got a beautiful room overlooking the East River; we were told it was one of the biggest on the floor. Over the next several hours, they began the induction, starting with inserting a balloon and giving her pitocin. Jenn was really nervous about the balloon, having read and heard horror stories, but she did phenomenally. This began to increase contractions, but she managed through for the next several hours before getting an epidural right around midnight.

Jenn was incredible every step of the way. She was strong, she was powerful, and she was as in control as she could be. Any time things got tough, you could see her mentally bear down and push through. She reached another level I didn’t know she had. We had our doula, Tymaree, there with us the entire time, and she was a godsend. She was always very clear with what was happening, what was going to happen, and how best to prepare Jenn for it. Throughout much of the morning of May 31st, the process continued to soldier on; Jenn’s contractions were increasing, and she was progressing perfectly. We even got a few brief naps in during the early hours of the morning.

I don’t want to go into too much detail, but things took a very nasty turn right around 4 PM. Jenn had just started to feel the contractions more, even with the epidural, so she had asked for a quick top-off to get her to the finish line. About 15-20 minutes after the top-off, Jenn started to shake violently, her hands and feet started to turn blue, and it was starting to be clear (mostly to Tymaree) that something wasn’t right. Tymaree called for the nurses and ran through what had happened over the last few minutes, who then called for the doctor. Within a few minutes, there were around ten people in our room trying to figure out what was going on with Jenn. The Doctor’s first thought was to give it a few more minutes, but when Jenn’s temperature spiked and both her heart rate and Elle’s were rising, she called it and moved to do an emergency c-section.

Even now, I struggle to comprehend the next ten minutes. They ran Jenn out of her delivery room and into the operating room down the hall. They had me suit up to join her in the operating room, but by the time I was ready, they had already delivered our daughter, and Jenn was being stitched up, having given birth to our beautiful daughter.

Elle Maria Szerlip was born at New York Prespertarian Hospital at 5:09 PM, weighing 8 lbs 2 ozs and 21” long. Thirty minutes later (5:33 PM), I was introduced to Elle in the hallway of the ICU while we waited for Jenn to come out of surgery. This was not how either of us ever imagined this moment. I felt a tremendous amount of guilt for meeting Elle before Jenn especially since she did all the work. But holding Elle in my arms, all I could do was cry and tell her how much we loved her and that I couldn’t wait for her to meet her Mom. Jenn was taken from surgery to the ICU for 24 hours of monitoring, while Elle was taken to the NICU for monitoring as well. The next 24 hours were a whirlwind of emotions that I’ll cover next month.

The remained of May 31st was going between the NICU and the ICU to be with both Jenn and Elle. I was able to give Elle her first two bottles while still being with Jenn for the remainder of the time. I’ll never forget sitting next to Jenn after Elle’s first feed and telling her what a beautiful, perfect daughter we have and showing her all the pictures and videos I took. I shed so many tears that day, and I am so grateful to our doula, Tymaree, who gave me a massive hug after I found out I couldn’t be with Jenn during the surgery while I processed what had just happened. I’m also insanely grateful for the medical team at NYP, who were amazingly gracious, kind, and professional throughout the entire ordeal.

As I write this post a few weeks into June, I am happy to report that both Jenn and Elle are doing amazing, and I can’t wait to describe our first month as parents in the June post. We are so fortunate that they both were able to come through it and that our family of four is now complete. Jenn and I are over the moon with our daughter who will be a prime staple of World of Joel for all future posts.

TV WE WATCHED

As we awaited Elle's arrival, we had a lot of time to catch up on TV, which included some really great shows. One of my favorites of the month was Conan O’Brien Must Go, a very funny travel show that Conan did four episodes of, and I couldn’t stop laughing. It was great to have both Acapulco, Trying, and Bridgerton come back with new seasons, as these are some of our favorite shows of the last few years.

Speaking of favorite shows, we thoroughly enjoyed the mini-series One Day on Netflix, a beautifully romantic and fun show that went places we weren’t expecting until Jenn realized that she had read the book about a decade ago.

BOOKS I READ (OR LISTENED TO)

It may seem like I didn’t read much this month, but that’s because I was eating up the (900+ page) very long but insanely good The Winds of War by Herman Wouk. I’ve read almost 500 books in my lifetime and I’ve come to find that I love a sprawling family drama told over the course of many years and different perspectives. The Winds of War takes place in the years leading up to and into WWII and spans the globe. You could argue that it's a bit convenient how at least one family member ends up in these massively consequential times in world history at the exact right moments, but that’s what makes this so compelling. I adored this book and immediately purchased the sequel right after I finished it. It was such a beautifully written novel that has a strong pace for such a long novel that kept me finding excuses to keep reading.

MOVIES WE WATCHED

Our last foray at the movie theater for a while was to go see The Fall Guy with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. Its a very fun, inconsequential action comedy that we thoroughly enjoyed with a bucket of popcorn. We did watch Neal Brennan stand-up special Crazy Good, which was nowhere near the highs of his last special Blocks. And of course for Mother’s Day in anticipation of Elle we watched Father of the Bride Part II.

THEATER WE SAW

I am so glad we went to see Home at the Todd Haimes Theatre. It was such a powerful 90 minutes with only three actors and a very minimalist staging, but it was beautiful. I remember walking out of it on a beautiful spring afternoon and telling Jenn this is why we got to the theater, and it's what I loved about subscribing to Roundabout because it had us see shows we wouldn’t have normally gone to see.

Unfortunately the other show we saw this month was The Great Gatsby which we left at intermission.

GAMES I'VE BEEN PLAYING

Some of my favorite gaming memories of May were playing Top Spin with Jake. We’d get a couple of matches in each session, usually trash-talking on the phone while we did it. The other game I played a lot of this month was EA Sports PGA Tour which is just a great game of golf.