Way to go, Jim and Pam, and congratulations on the birth of your daughter, Cecilia Marie Halpert!

OK, so the Halperts are fictional, so the birth of their child is less exciting than, say, Eli’s birth. But I thought as a new parent, I could provide a commentary on what was realistic and what was unrealistic about how Cecilia came into the world. (Spoiler alert, I guess.)

Realistic:

• Jim and Pam were petrified, acting irrationally, and frazzled
• Everyone outside of the labor room is really eager to know *exactly* when the baby will be born
• Watching a woman give birth does make you want to clean out your eyes
• Breastfeeding is not easy, and it doesn’t always just happen
• You think the people in the hospital are going to make sure your baby seat is installed correctly, but they really don’t give a crap

Unrealistic:

• Pam would have needed more than one change of pants after her water broke
• As crazy as most of the workers in this office are, there is no way that so many people would not be urging Pam to go to the hospital when she is clearly in “real” labor – relatively sane characters Oscar and Toby, I’m looking at you!
• You can’t just waltz right into a birthing room – nor should you be able to
• The nurses came into the room mere moments after the call button was pressed
• No new mom could sleep through a baby crying in their room – especially if it’s their baby

Overall, I thought the show was a little too cartoony, with Michael parking the car in an ambulance zone and throwing away the keys and with Dwight destroying the Halpert kitchen (and Jim and Pam’s subsequent lack of a reaction).  Pam breastfeeding the wrong baby was totally predictable, as was as Jim’s reaction to the male lactation consultant.  I don’t know, I hate to jump on the whole “The Office has jumped teh shark!!!” bandwagon (misspelling intentional), but I just feel like the show is at its best when things are believably awkward, not so outrageous that you can’t imagine anyone ever doing anything that ridiculous.  The show’s best moments were little things like Ryan claiming he’s single as Kelly grabs hold of him, or when Michael was surprised to see Pam’s mother at the hospital after her granddaughter was born.

Oh, and one last gripe – Christ-fearing Angela, who told Pam that her baby was still a bastard because it was conceived out of wedlock, is willing to have her own illegitimate child with Dwight?  Huh?