Several times a week I go to the hospital to see newborn babies. Today I walked into a new patient's room whom I had never met before. Mom was resting in bed, and the "dad" was walking around the room holding the new baby. Sounds like an everyday situation, but there was one thing wrong. This "dad" was the same dad I have been seeing in my office, but with a DIFFERENT wife and child. In fact, I had just seen him and his other wife and child last week. I wasn't sure what to say. Do I say hi and acknowledge that I know him already? Do I pretend I don't know him or that he has a wife and child already? Does this "wife" know this guy already has another wife and child at home?

What a quandary. Well, the "dad" realized that I was giving him strange looks, and figured out what was going through my mind. He started laughing and said "No No No, I'm not the dad! I'm just a friend of the family!" The new mom found this extremely hilarious. I was completely embarrassed.

After we all stopped laughing I was able to regain my composure enough to examine the new baby.

I thought this episode was behind me, but no. This dad brought his own child and real wife into the office for a check up a week later, and I had to be embarrassed all over again as the wife teased me for a few minutes.

Dr. Bob