I loved Fox’s thrilling show, 24. Jack Bauer was the man. It always blew me away what he could accomplish in one day. However, his story is fiction.
The following timeline of the Riles family over 24 hours is completely accurate.
The below events took place between 6:30PM Nov. 30th and 6:29PM Dec. 1st 2011.
6:30PM I arrived home from work. We had just taped the first show of Ellen’s 12 Days of Giveways. The audience was awesome. They took home incredible gifts, including iPads.
6:32PM A public notary arrived at the house we were renting, and in escrow to buy.
6:40PM Lucy and I sat down and started signing the loan documents. Today was the day we were purchasing our house.
6:45PM Lucy, who was 9 months pregnant, continued to feel contractions throughout our signing. (We could not delay the signing for a few days, or we would lose our interest rate. Wednesday was the day).
6:52PM Babs ran up, turned off the notary’s printer, and ran away laughing.
7:10PM We ate a fabulous dinner, sponsored by my parents and Sprout’s supermarket, while continuing to make the biggest purchase of our life.
7:25PM We were fingerprinted by the notary, and we sent him and his allegedly broken printer on the way.
7:30PM Lucy and I put Babs to sleep. She said “night night octogan,” to an octagon in her room. We realized that with the strong contractions continuing, we should head to the hospital.
7:45PM All packed up, and with my parents staying with Babs, Lucy and I departed to go have a baby.
7:47PM We drove through the wind storm of the century in Los Angeles. Trees had fallen on the streets, wind was blowing the car everywhere.
8:17PM We checked in at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Beverly Hills. (Yep, this was the second baby we were having in 90210-land. No, we did not go to the Peach Pit).
9:00PM – 7AM Lucy continued through a long and challenging labor, which made me realize that she is a superhero. I will not give specifics on these hours, unless you have doctor’s permission.
7:01AM We were transferred to a sweet room with a view of the Hollywood Hills.
7:02AM Lucy received an epidural.
7:03AM I received a cup of coffee.
7:05AM – 10:04AM Labor continued to progress, and at times there were smiles. This was not the case overnight. Thank you, epidural. Thank you, coffee.
10:14AM My namesake was born.
10:15AM-10:35AM All of Baby Tommy’s vitals were checked, and we took hundreds of photos.
10:37AM Tommy boy met his first female breast.
10:59AM I washed my hair in the bathroom sink.
11:10AM-11:59AM Lucy and I sat, talked to, and got to know this brand new gentleman.
12:00PM I drove to Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank
12:01PM-6PM Lucy and Baby Tommy had a relaxing afternoon at the hospital, napping, and visiting with family.
1:15PM I had an double espresso shot latte.
1:19PM My colleagues at Ellen gave me an awesome reception in the control room.
1:30PM The audience loaded in for Day 2 of the 12 Days of Giveaways.
1:40PM I warmed ‘em up, but first looked at a picture of my boy.
2PM-3PM We taped the show. Russell Brand and Sting were the guests.
3:02PM Ellen gave a really cool shout out to me, and showed a picture of Baby Tommy to the audience.
3:15PM I had two large coffees.
4:00PM The audience loaded in for Day 3 of the 12 Days of Giveaways.
4:30PM-5:30PM We taped the show. Josh Duhamel and Laura Dern were the guests.
5:32PM Ellen gave another awesome shout out to my family, and again showed the baby photo to the crowd.
5:33PM I ran out the door to get back to the hospital.
6:20PM I arrived in the room and held my namesake again.
6:29PM Lucy and I realized how incredible this past day had been.
I must say this… the true hero of this episode of 24 was my wife. She went through a long labor, delivered a healthy baby, and was cool enough to tell me that I should go to work because I have a great gig.
Jack Bauer, you have nothing on Lucy Riles!