Dr Suchan Shenoy is one of the regulars at Restaurant Five in Tuscaloosa on Saturday mornings. I join the regulars when I’m in town visiting my son who is a sophomore at the University. Dr Shenoy is an OBGYN at the DCH Hospital there. He and I sat together, and we made some small talk. I don’t know any of the regulars well, but I enjoy their company when I’m in town.
Dr Shenoy could relate to my situation. I was a new guy sitting amongst a group of old friends in their familiar place, not knowing exactly what to say or do. I don’t have any background with them and the conversation can run pretty slow and thin.
Dr Shenoy mentioned that when he’s at a party or an event and the content runs thin, he brings up some things he sees around the hospital - odd baby names, things new parents have done - stuff like that. Lots of people can enjoy those stories. Lots of people find them interesting.
He mentioned that the maternity ward at the hospital had an unexpected surge of newborns in late July and early August. It was strange, he said, since it wasn’t a national trend, or he would have heard about it. It appeared very local. DCH Hospital’s normal rate was one or two babies a week and suddenly the numbers had doubled for a few weeks. Almost out of the blue, there were babies everywhere - very local, very isolated.
We talked about how the hospital had managed the surge well. They were all hands-on deck for a little while. The surge in babies was, frankly, good for business and they knew it wouldn’t last but, for a few weeks. Everyone was in motion caring for the babies, the mothers and dealing with the families. It was odd he said, and he couldn’t figure out what had caused it.
Not content to let it go, Dr Shenoy reverted to an old equation he had learned in medical school that helped doctors back in the day estimate due dates. It’s called the Naegele Rule Calculator, and it’s not much used anymore since today’s computers are much easier to use and more accurate. However, using the Naegele Rule you can reverse the math and estimate a conception date, and the math zeroed in on November 25th - late November last year.
Thanksgiving? Not likely. They would have noticed a surge in previous years if it were Thanksgiving, and it wouldn’t have been isolated to the area. Then it occurred to him.
In the late afternoon of Saturday, November 25th last year, with 43 seconds left in the game, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe threw a bomb to the back left corner of the end-zone where it was caught by Isaiah Bond leading to Alabama’s extraordinary come from behind win. The surge in babies Dr Shenoy was seeing were conceived that night.
As Alabama fans taunted Auburn with “who’s your daddy” well, it became clear to Dr Shenoy that lots of daddies were made that night. Apparently, lots of people, including the Crimson Tide football team, got lucky.
I’m Cam Marston, and I’m just trying to Keep It Real.
