photo: nbc
The Office
The Delivery
Original Air date: Mar 4, 2010
Shannon – Associate Editor
shannon@thetwocentscorp.com
In case you didn’t know, Pam’s pregnant. Jim and Pam are having their baby today!
I will warn you that this review contains content about boobs and hoohoos and me ranting about breastfeeding. I mean, there’s a baby being born, so yeah, be warned.
Pam is having contractions but they’re still irregular yet and they want to wait until midnight because the HMO gives them an extra day if they check in overnight. Which is understandable, but not with the nurse they end up getting. I’d rather not spend any extra time with Ms. Completely Unhelpful And Snotty. And also, you know, if we had universal healthcare in this country the HMO thing wouldn’t be an issue. Just sayin’.
Dwight wants a baby so he can outsell Jim and Pam who have been using theirs to generate more sales. Dwight asks Angela to bear his child. Angela agrees and is told to show up at their old rendezvous spot in the warehouse. Angela shows up at the appointed place and time and Dwight puts forth the conditions.
So Pam’s contracting every 7 minutes and won’t go to the hospital til midnight. Jim thinks there’s too many distractions but Pam says it helps so Michael calls a meeting in the conference room. Sleight of hand tricks will be allowed. Andy does the “Evolution of Dance” dance in complete silence. Ryan reads some of his poetry. Erin recites names of thoroughbred champions.
Jim insists that Pam go to the hospital but everyone is siding with Pam. That baby is going to be born in the conference room. Jim is losing his mind. Pam accidentally lets slip that the baby is a girl. Jim tears up and is completely adorable. Pam’s water breaks and it’s only 4:35. Pam still doesn’t want to go to the hospital.
Pam and Kevin have “Ultra Feast” while Pam is contracting up a storm. The men try to strong arm her into going to the hospital and she resists some more but then breaks down and cries. That’s the transition part of labor (look it up) right there. She’s freaking having that baby in the office. They convince her to go to the hospital. The office breaks out in mass chaos.
Pam freaks out because she doesn’t have her iPod so they send Dwight to Jim and Pam’s house after it. So, Dwight breaks a window to get into Jim and Pam’s house for the ipod. He didn’t find the ipod but he found mold under the sink which caused him to stay overnight and sleeps commando in their bed. My husband said “he let the beets fall where they may” and yeah, you can’t unhear that. Dwight destroys their kitchen to get rid of the mold. Oh my God.
Pam has been in labor for 19 hours and is ready to push so of course Michael walks in. So now Pam and Michael have seen each other’s junk. Of course, Michael’s didn’t have a person coming out of it.
Cecilia Marie Halpert is 7lbs 2 oz and 18” long! Woo! It’s a fantastic name! I was worried about the name because I fear for the future of our country with some of the craptastic names I’ve seen lately.
Michael takes credit for getting Jim and Pam together and making their baby and he vows to put a baby in all the empty holes in his workers. Ew. Michael tries to set Erin up with Kevin but Erin says she likes Andy. There’s some finagling and finally Andy asks Erin out via fax. It’s sweet.
Back in the hospital, Jim and Pam have a hard time with the baby (swaddling and breastfeeding) and wow, that’s scarily accurate. The nurse is snippy too, like I said, accurate. The nurse suggests taking the baby to the nursery for awhile, feeding her some formula, and trying again later. Then another couple and their baby are brought in to share Jim and Pam’s room and that baby nurses like a dream.
Pam finally gets to see a lactation consultant and it’s a guy. Jim looks uncomfortable. In the middle of the night, Cecilia cries. Jim swoops her up in a sleepy haze and hands her to Pam. Cecilia latches on and they’re finally parents. Except…uh, that wasn’t Cecilia. That was the other couple’s baby. Oops.
Dwight and Angela agree to meet at Jim and Pam’s. The exchange two forms of ID and sign the contracts to have a baby together. Angela asks him how he’d like to celebrate and Dwight says he feels sick and she should just go ahead and pour herself a glass of apple juice.
I know this is just a show, but the nurse is seriously aggravating me. Pam tells her she’s still having trouble breastfeeding and the nurse says that formula is just fine. Oh my goodness, is this nurse getting a kick back from the formula companies?! Give it a rest, lady! As a nursing mother, it just gets to me. I’m sensitive about it, ok? Don’t judge me.
So they pretty much kick Pam out of the hospital with a crying baby while Jim goes to find the car. Pam is standing outside the entrance to the hospital and the baby is screaming and I know that feeling of desperation. You’ve just gone through 16 hours of labor, you can’t get the baby to eat, the baby is screaming because she’s hungry, and you have no idea what to do. Kudos to Jenna Fischer because her face was perfect. So Pam sits down on the bench and attempts to nurse the baby and thankfully the baby latches on and eats. In your face, pushy formula nurse!
Oh, and when Jim and Pam get home with the baby, Dwight is still renovating their kitchen. I hope Pam kills him.
So yeah, this episode reeeallly hit home for me (especially in the nursing department). I think Hollywood got a lot of it right. There were some iffy parts like with the water breaking and Pam not wanting to go to the hospital, but they never show you the parts where the baby won’t latch on or how people are in labor for more than 5 minutes. Well done, writers. This is probably one of the best episodes of The Office I’ve seen in a long time. I found it sweet and endearing. I love it when I feel that way about this show. Tell me what you thought. Leave a comment, but do it quietly, the baby is sleeping!
TheTwoCents 
Pam and Jim get Cecilia! Andy gets Erin! Dwight gets Angela??!?!
What a GREAT episode. FINALLY a “A” grade quality episode. I’m so happy for the show. It didn’t disappoint at all! WOOHOO!!!
Great recap! As a mom of three, I also felt the hospital scenes were done realistically. As a big fan of JAM it was nice to see the birth of their child handled so well. Kudos to the writers.
As for the rest of the crew. Loved the bits with Andy/Erin and Kevin/Pam. I think the whole Dwight/Angela baby contract thing is too over the top, even for these characters. I hope they reign that in and fast before it gets even more ridiculous.
While it seemed like the nurse was a little pushy about the formula v. breastfeeding issue, I didn’t see her as overly pushy. It is a stressful time and sometimes a baby just doesn’t get it and can’t do it. Happened to me and the formula worked out just as well. I did love the scene at the end though, when it was just Pam and her daughter, on the bench. What a wonderful bonding scene!
They did a fantastic job recreating the whole birth thing and they hit the nail on the head with the troubles of swaddling and whatnot. Nice show!
Amy, I completely see what you’re saying and I’m not trying to start a formula v. breastfeeding debate, but it just irked me that the nurse would automatically jump to formula rather than offer the help with nursing that Pam was obviously seeking. And then when Pam said she didn’t want the baby to have a bottle, the nurse rolled her eyes and said “Oh, right, because you know everything” or something to that effect. It just grated on my nerves. But, it’s just a TV show. 🙂
Donna, I could see how you could think that the Dwight/Angela contract was over the top, but personally, I think it’s just the kind of thing they would do. Clinical and professional. I think it’s their little way of saying “I’m sorry. Let’s be together.”
KP, I knew you’d love this episode! I’m so glad I didn’t have anything bad to say about it! 😉
Thanks for the comments, everyone! Keep em coming!
While there were a few bright spots, this episode, overall was awful. It’s just another example of how far this series as fallen, especially in the 6th season. The cast have been turned into caricatures and that’s when they’re not doing something completely out of character.
Pam’s contractions are mere minutes apart and she still refuses to be taken to the hospital? Where’s the concern for the well-being of the baby? It was tension for the sake of creating tension, like the writers couldn’t find a more creative way of building suspense.
Dwight notices mold and decides to tear apart the kitchen? He’s a wacky character, but this is quite a stretch, especially given the other issues that are supposedly preoccupying him.
On a more general level this series is suffering from hyperactive item. This episode was an hour long and it felt like the writers needed to rush the major plots in order to cram in all the gags. Watch an older episode and the difference in pacing is quite glaring.
The issues about latching and facing the stress of raising a baby were fairly convincing and a neat touch. But they felt rushed, like the writers were paying lip-service to viewers but were anxious to get back to other antics.
And the episode ended on an overly sappy, positive note. All of a sudden, after being dumped at the doorstep of the hospital the baby latches. Things do get easier, but 30 seconds after stepping outside. It was just another one of these made-for-tv contrivances.
But more importantly, this series is about The Office, not relationships. The series has gone so far into this territory that the show is now generic. At this point the show could just as easily take place in a cafe, bar or someone’s living room. I don’t doubt they’re going this as their last gasp effort to hold onto ratings.
As much as I liked the episode, I can’t disagree with any of your statements Hanshiro. Well written.
Yeah, I can’t disagree with most of your points either, but I didn’t hate the episode.
The only one I do disagree with is that the show is not about relationships. It IS about relationships, in an office. Maybe not specifically about romantic relationships, but about relationships in general between people who work in close quarters.
But is Dwight conflicted by it, like it showed at the end when he said he was ‘sick’? Was Pam’s sister back on the scene in the way?
I think he is conflicted but I think he knows as well as the rest of us that Angela is perfect for him.